Living With The Memories
by forestwife
Summary: Sequel to Running and Hiding. Now the Halliwells know who Chris really is, and what he's had to live through. What happens next? What about everything he's still living through in his quest to save Wyatt? Really bad summary, Please R&R!
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own Charmed

Here you go guys! The sequel to Running and Hiding. So sorry that you've had to wait so long, but my muse went on strike. I've got a replacement, but she's just not up to the job like my last one was… so I'm still having issues! lol

For all you peoples who haven't read Running and Hiding, you probably need to to understand this… probably. But what do I know, you might not!

I know, I'll give you a quick recap of what happened in it. Ok basically, some demon trapped the Charmed ones, Chris and Leo in his lair which was kinda like a maze (but with booby-traps) and tried to break them by showing them their worst memories. Unfortunately for Chris, the demon discovered how bad his life had been and decided to stick with his memories. So, between the memories and the dangerous situations in the maze, Piper, Paige, Phoebe and Leo discovered his identity and his powers.

By the way, in my story, Leo hit Chris as a child (which some of you were not very happy about) but I promise you there is an excuse for it (which will be revealed later), it's not just me being sadistic (honest)

Right, quick recap of Chris's powers this story (coz even I get confused with them sometimes!)

He's got orbing, telekinesis, invisibility, camouflage, energy shields, illusions, empathy, telepathy, very acute hearing, pyrokinesis (fire), cryokinesis (ice), speed (he can move faster than the speed of sound), phasing (moving through solid objects).

As you can probably tell, I didn't think it was very fair Chris only having Tk and orbing in the show!

Phew! Wow I talk a lot! Ok, enjoy what I've done so far…

Living With The Memories

Chapter 1

Someone was coming…

Hurried heavy footfalls were approaching where he stood so loudly that even if he'd only had the ordinary level of hearing he still would've heard them.

He could also feel emotions, strange emotions that weren't his own. He was getting unnatural waves of anger, and glee at the destruction that covered the city. But Chris recognised the feelings by now, they were the same sort of feelings that he got from most demons, and this one was no different.

The witch-lighter hastily became invisible, and waited.

Sure enough, a minute later a demon hurried past.

Chris held his breath and tried not to make a sound, but inside he was fuming. This was just a low-level demon, one that he could easily defeat. But thanks to Wyatt monitoring all his demons, the moment one was killed in an area supposedly devoid of anything but demons, the place would be crawling with more.

So he stayed quiet and waited for the demon to move out of hearing range.

Once he was gone, Chris turned visible again. He'd lost count of how many times he'd had to do that that night. He was in the most dangerous part of town the part where no one lived anymore, and where the demons swarmed in numbers. However, it was the area where the most supplies could be found. The areas around it had already been scavenged until there was nothing left.

He'd been lucky tonight, he'd found several unopened cans of tinned fruit and a sweater – which he was in sore need of. Winter was coming fast, so if he didn't find enough clothes to keep out at least some of the cold then he was a goner. Forget being killed by demons or even Wyatt, he'd be torn from this life by a little thing called exposure, or possibly pneumonia.

A faint pink light on the horizon interrupted his thoughts, a light that would quickly begin to light up the ruined city. Sunrise.

He had to move swiftly. Without the cover of the darkness to protect him, he would quickly be caught unless he got out of this part of town soon. If he ran, and used his speed, he might just make it out of this area to somewhere marginally safer.

He camouflaged and used his speed to run as quickly as possible. He would've been better off being invisible he knew that, but he still hadn't mastered using his invisibility and speed at the same time yet. That was something he really had to work on.

As he reached the more familiar streets that had become home, he slowed to a more normal-paced jog. It was as he was passing an abandoned warehouse he felt it. It wasn't really anything major, just a slight twinge to his senses, a feeling that there was something there.

He told himself that it wasn't safe, and that it was probably a trap set by Wyatt or something. But in the end, his curiosity got the better of him, and he entered the warehouse to investigate. Once inside the dark building, he followed where the source of the feeling seemed to be coming from… the basement, and then through a manhole to the sewers.

In the dank and the dark, Chris was really starting to feel apprehensive about his decision to investigate. _Yeah, good going Chris_, he thought sarcastically to himself, _let's just follow your gut, and see where it leads! Dark warehouse? Spooky basement? Filthy sewers? Why not?! What on earth could go wrong?_

He'd been walking along for about 5 minutes before the feeling he'd been having started to take form as something he recognised. Emotions, thoughts… it was like the emotions and thoughts off lots of people, but they were all sort of… muffled somehow.

He could also feel a slight compulsion to leave and walk the other way, but it wasn't a natural experience. It was as though he was being mentally pressured to believe that he wanted to go the other way. He forced himself to keep walking. He knew what was happening. Someone had cast magical wards, to protect something, or hide something. However, they weren't very strong wards; they'd only keep the very lowest and weak-minded demons out.

The young witch-lighter carried on following the dirty tunnel through all the wards. He was close now; he could feel it. In fact, if he listened hard enough, his acute hearing meant he could hear the sounds of people walking around, talking, and children laughing. It was a sound that he hadn't heard for a long time, people living in relative safety.

Suddenly, his hearing alerted him to sounds further down the tunnel. He wasn't alone. There was about 4 or 5 people stealthily hurrying towards wherever he was. It was probably a scout group, he realised. The people living here couldn't all go out for supplies, so they sent small groups to do it for them.

Chris was torn with what to do. If they were hiding down here, it probably meant that they were also against Wyatt. But could he trust them? And would they trust him? He listened to their thoughts for a minute, and decided that they sounded trustworthy enough. He only hoped that they thought the same about him. One thing was for sure, winter was coming, and he wouldn't survive another one on the streets. He needed them.

So he waited in the tunnel for the group to reach him. Sure enough, when they did, he saw that there were 5 of them. As they saw him, they were instantly on alert. They all raised their respective weapons, whether they were guns, athames or energy balls, and aimed them at Chris.

Chris raised his hands in surrender and tried to look as unthreatening as possible. He took a step forward to try to ask for help, and the most nervous-looking of the four shot him.

He was caught off guard; he didn't have time to defend himself. The bullet tore through his left shoulder, the impact knocking him off his feet. He looked down at his shoulder and saw a dark stain spreading out on his shirt. However, through the pain, and people yelling for the medic, his only thought was, _Shit, another ruined shirt_ before he lost consciousness…

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chris woke with a start. He sat up and looked around wildly for a second, before realising where he was and lying back down again with a sigh.

It was only a dream, one of a series since the incident with the demon. The incident where his family had discovered his true identity, and he'd had to relive some of the worst moments of his life. These strolls through his past had stirred up some unwanted memories that he'd almost forgotten, and given him painful reminders of the ones he hadn't. Before, his memories had given him nightmares sometimes, but they were bearable. Now however, they were becoming increasingly difficult to live with.

This last dream was one of the mildest ones so far. Sure, he'd been shot, but the incident hadn't permanently scarred him (at least not mentally or emotionally anyway).

Most of the nightmares he'd had in the last few weeks had resulted in him waking up screaming, or shaking with fear. And every time they did, when he woke, he always found Piper there to comfort him. She would wrap her arms around him, just like her future self had done when he was young, and she'd stroke his hair and say something that always make him feel that everything was going to be ok.

He felt really guilty for continually waking her almost every night. However, whenever he suggested he go back to sleeping at the club, she refused point-blank. So, he was sleeping in the guest bedroom at the manor (with Paige and Phoebe moved out there was one now).

He looked at the clock beside his bed; it was only 5.30. He groaned, there was no way he'd be able to go back to sleep now, he might as well get up and start working on his demon quota for today. His hunt for the demon that turned Wyatt was so much more difficult now that his family knew that they were his family. So if he got up now, he'd be able to vanquish some demons before they were even awake. Perfect.

He got out of bed, pulled on a pair of jeans and a clean shirt, and went to the attic to look at the book of shadows. He had a job to do.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

So, what did you think? I think it's not my best work, but please review and tell me what you thought. All reviews are welcome… although I do prefer nice ones… hint, hint

Also I need your help, I have a few ideas for things that could happen in this story (for the middle somewhere), and I have some ideas about the ending (a basic long term thing of how it's gonna end). But I have nothing else, so any ideas you're willing to give me would be great. In fact, without any ideas this story will probably wither and die (it would be very traumatic, and I'd probably cry!) So PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE help me out! (even if it's weeks after this has been published when you're reading this… your ideas are very welcome too!)


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own Charmed

Chapter 2

He'd been in the attic for several hours when Wyatt woke up and began to cry. He paused in his potion making, feeling an unexplainable urge to go and comfort his, usually older, brother. However, he relaxed and continued what he was doing when he heard Piper's gentle shushing. He should've known that she was never far away from Wyatt whenever he needed her.

His mother had been the same in the future too. Always there. And, she was always there for _both_ her boys as well. She never favoured his older brother over him, no matter how twice-blessed Wyatt was.

Thinking about it, Chris remembered how she'd always been able to make him feel special and happy being who he was. He'd always had a slight inferiority complex over Wyatt, it was impossible _not_ to have one really, but it had only been _after_ his mother died that it had really taken root, and prospered.

With his acute hearing, Chris could now hear Piper giving Wyatt breakfast and bustling around the kitchen, making pancakes--, which were most likely for him. She'd been complaining every mealtime, and at every other chance she got about how thin he was, and constantly trying to get him to eat more.

_Now's your last chance to escape and go demon hunting,_ He thought, _if you don't leave soon, she'll get you to eat several helpings of pancakes, and then insist you wait 'til later for demon hunting, when Phoebe or Paige can go with you. And then they'll moan, and say we should just have a family night in or something… So basically, it's now or never…_

Picking up the potions, he was about to orb out when he heard, "Chris! Breakfast!"

He sighed, and put the potions back down again. Now he'd heard her calling, he couldn't ignore her, that just wasn't fair. If he did that, she'd get upset and start thinking that she was a terrible mother, as she'd been doing a lot recently. He'd try to slip out quickly after breakfast, before Piper could make any complaints.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

He was sitting, eating some of the pancakes that Piper had made when Leo orbed in. Leo had been coming around a lot more often recently, much to Piper's delight, and Chris' annoyance.

It wasn't that he didn't want his parents together (if Leo was going to act like a proper father), and it wasn't that he didn't want his mom to be happy. It was just that he couldn't deal with being around Leo at the moment, and it was becoming twice as hard to avoid him. Particularly as Leo seemed determined that they were going to have a 'father-son chat'.

So Chris just sat there, resolutely eating his pancakes while Piper gave some pancakes to Leo, made probably what she hoped was a believable excuse and went upstairs, taking Wyatt with her.

Leo sat down with his breakfast, and began to pick nervously at his pancakes. Chris didn't say anything. Why wouldn't Leo just get the picture? He didn't want to talk to him right now.

"Hey Chris!" Leo began, hesitantly greeting him.

If he was hoping for a friendly response, he was sadly disappointed. Chris merely nodded and acknowledged him, "Leo."

After this, neither of them said anything for a while. An awkward silence filled the room, one that, Chris at least, was not inclined to break.

Leo it seemed, was of a different mind. He put his fork down and said, "Look, Chris, we need to talk."

Chris opened his mouth, but Leo interrupted him, "And don't say there's nothing to talk about, because there is Chris."

Chris sighed, would the man never give up? So he put down his own fork and said coldly, "Fine. What do you want to talk about?"

"Well, us! I mean, I can't understand why I was such a terrible father. Why would I do that to you?"

Chris laughed and said sarcastically, "You're asking _me_ to try to figure out what went on in that twisted mind of yours? You're really asking the wrong person. I gave up years ago."

"See? That's what I mean! I just don't understand how I could've become such a person! When I saw what had happened to you, I was sickened that any parent could do that to their child! And when I found out that it was me! I was… I- I couldn't believe it!" Leo cried, his voice rising in volume as he spoke. He'd been waving his hand around emphatically, and when he finished speaking, it came very close to Chris' face.

As if on reflex, Chris flinched, and jerked out of the way.

Seeing his son's instinctive action to him, Leo immediately calmed down and said in shock, "You thought I was going to hit you."

When Chris looked at the floor, he continued, "Chris, please listen to me. I don't know what exactly happened in your past. But I would never _never_ hit you. Please believe me! It's just not who I am. I think hitting children is always wrong. So I'd never do it!"

It almost broke Leo's heart when his youngest son just looked sadly at him and said, "But you did." And, with that, orbed out.

At the same moment, Piper came back into the room. "So, how'd it--- go?" she asked. But just by seeing the kitchen devoid of her son, and by the look on Leo's face, she could tell how it'd gone. "That well, huh?" she said sympathetically.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

High up on the Golden Gate Bridge, Chris sat fuming. He knew that almost everything that he was angry with Leo for wasn't his fault and was the fault of the Leo in the future. But that didn't make it any easier to get on with him, or to try and forgive him. It was very difficult to not associate the man with the so-called father who'd abandoned him, hit him and blamed him for his mother's death.

At the same time, seeing the Leo in the past had made Chris begin to wonder. What if his father had been under a spell all along? The witchlighter had watched the way Leo acted with his family, and it didn't fit with the childhood he'd had. Leo was generally a kind-hearted man who'd do anything to protect _any_ member of his family, not only Wyatt.

The last time he'd seen his father in the future, it'd been whilst he was in Wyatt's dungeons. His father had been visiting Wyatt, who was busy terrorising the people in the cells. Leo had seen Chris there, and refused point-blank to help him. He'd even said that Chris deserved to be there for betraying his brother, and for causing Piper's death.

As he watched the birds flying around in the clear blue sky that was completely at odds with his mood, he thought about the probability of Leo being under a spell. It was possible he supposed. Thinking about it, something sparked in his memory, something Wyatt had once said to him.

He closed his eyes, trying to remember better. He'd only been partly conscious when it happened, so it was no wonder his memory was fuzzy…

_His own voice, begging someone for help._

_That someone… his father, turning around and glaring at him. Angrily saying something, before walking away._

_Wyatt crouching down next to him, smiling evilly._

His brother's next words resounded in his head.

"_I wanted to be dad's favourite when we were kids. Now I wanted him to join my regime. You should know by now, little brother… I always get what I want…"_

There was definitely a possibility that Leo had been under a spell. Something more for him to investigate anyway. But not now. Now he had demons to vanquish.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chris orbed down to the underworld, not caring that he had no idea where he was going or that he had no vanquishing potions, no spells and no backup with him.

He strode though the vast caves and caverns, not caring which demons saw him and which didn't. All those that followed him, hoping the whitelighter hadn't noticed them, energy balls in their hands, had no idea that this was exactly what he wanted. Chris knew about every single demon following him. And they were following him to their deaths…

Reaching an enormous open space, the young witchlighter turned slowly around and called, "I know you're all there! So you may as well come out."

The demons who had followed all stepped or shimmered into view… There were only a handful of them. Chris smirked. That would soon change.

At the sight of their 'prey' smirking, some of the demons became a bit nervous. Why wasn't he afraid? Or trying to escape? What did the boy know that they didn't?

If they were getting any ideas about escaping however, they were soon vanquished, along with the first demon…

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

So, what did you think? I'm sorry, but I didn't have time to do a spelling and grammar check, so I hope there aren't too many mistakes in there!

As I said before, I really do need some ideas for this, it's running on empty at the moment! I do have an idea for the next chapter actually, so that's ok, but after that… well we'll see what happens!

But, please review! They give me inspiration, so you never know, your review could help save this story….! (Yes that was me, unashamedly begging for reviews! lol)


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I don't own Charmed.

Chapter 3

Chris orbed back into the manor several hours later, covered in dirt, blood (fortunately most of which wasn't his) and bruises. His clothes were ruined and would have to be thrown away, as along with the numerous stains of dirt and blood, they were quite badly torn.

In the underworld, he'd vanquished demon after demon after demon. As he'd predicted, the sound of the fighting had attracted more of them, and he'd vanquished them all.

Some of them had even been cocky, upper-level demons, sure that no crossbreed, no matter what his heritage, could possibly vanquish them. They were probably less sure now, now that they joined the low-level demons as flecks of dust and ash on the floor.

Standing in the hall, Chris listened carefully for any sounds of movement in the house, and was relieved when there were none. While he was quite pleased with his morning's work, (he reckoned he'd probably vanquished his demon quota for the week), he was _not_ looking forward to being on the receiving end of Piper's lecture if she found out where he'd gone instead of eating breakfast. And it wasn't because he was scared of being yelled at…

He just didn't think he could deal with the underlying worry and disappointment that would no doubt be in her eyes as she spoke. He didn't want to be the cause of such emotions to her. Already whenever he was around her, he could feel her fear. Her fear of failing him as a mother, even though he hadn't even been born yet.

Chris had tried to assure her that she'd been the best mother he could have ever hoped for, but he knew that she hadn't completely believed him. He couldn't imagine what this was like for her; her grown up son from the future arriving in this time when she's still pregnant with him. Being told by him that her precious eldest son, who to her is still a toddler, was going to become the ruler of all evil and have his whole family killed. And know that the whole future depended on your mothering skills…

This was what had happened to Piper, and yet she wasn't a quivering wreck, crying in the corner. She did what she always did, what she'd done his whole life, protect and love her family to the very best of her ability.

In fact, she was _so_ like the mother he'd known growing up that he was having difficulty remembering that this Piper _wasn't_ his mother. It was becoming increasingly difficult, because not only were they effectively the same person, but ever since she'd learnt his identity, the eldest Charmed One's maternal instincts had kicked in and she was behaving just like a mother to him. No, just like _his_ mother.

Trying to clear his thoughts, as well as block out the neighbour's, Chris went upstairs to clean himself up, and dispose of his ruined clothes.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Half an hour later, he came back down the stairs and wondered what to do. So far in his time in the past, he hadn't found himself with much free time. He spent all his time vanquishing demons. So now he'd just been on a vanquishing spree, and for the first time in months decided he deserved a few hours off… he had no idea what to do with himself.

He wandered aimlessly through the manor, and ended up in the living room. He stood in the middle of the room for a moment, looking around for a source of inspiration. His eyes fell on the piano in the corner.

The young witchlighter walked over to it and lifted the lid. It was easy to forget it was there in this time. None of the sisters played it, and Wyatt certainly couldn't yet.

Sitting down, and running his fingers over the keys, Chris tried to remember the last time he'd played. They hadn't had a piano when he'd been in hiding with Bianca, and there _definitely_ hadn't been one in Wyatt's dungeons.

There had however been one in the resistance base. It'd been salvaged from a nearby house, and brought to the base in the hopes that music would encourage morale and hope in everyone who resided there. But until Chris had learned of it's existence, no one had really played it on a regular basis.

Chris looked at the empty music stand on the piano. The sisters had no sheet music, not that that really mattered of course. In the 2 years he'd been with the resistance he'd had virtually no music, only scraps of what scout teams found whilst hunting for food and other supplies.

Hesitantly Chris placed his fingers on the keys, and began to play. The tune was halting at first, his fingers stumbling through the vaguely familiar patterns of tunes learned long ago. And as he continued, the melody flowed more smoothly, the music singing out, almost with a life of its own, and Chris realised just how much he'd missed playing.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Piper came back to the manor from the grocery store, bags in hand, Wyatt on her hip, and heard music coming from inside. She entered the hall, put down the bags and curiously looked into the living room.

The sight that met her eyes was one that she knew she would treasure. Chris, the neurotic whitelighter from the future, who had been recently revealed as her youngest son, was playing the piano.

She smiled. Chris hadn't noticed her yet, which was something else that surprised her. His hearing was so good, that along with his empathy and telepathy it meant that you couldn't do anything in this house without him knowing about it. But he was so wrapped up in what he was doing that he hadn't become aware of her, standing in the doorway. And she didn't do anything to alert him to her presence. She just wanted to stand and listen to his beautiful playing.

Wyatt however, had other ideas. He was bored, and wanted his mother to pay some attention to him! So he started crying.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

At the sound of a cry, Chris instantly stopped playing and looked up, only to see Piper standing in the doorway with Wyatt, who was crying.

He suddenly felt the need to explain his actions to her, worried that she'd be annoyed with him. "I- I was just… I w-was only… It- It was…," he stammered, for some reason finding himself incapable of forming a coherent sentence.

But Piper just smiled at him and said, "It's ok Chris. It's about time someone used the piano. All it does now is collect dust… and get destroyed almost every time a demon attacks. You can carry on if you want to."

As grateful as Chris was that he now knew that he could play the instrument whenever he wanted, he didn't think he could carry on playing, not now that he knew there was someone listening. "No, I've finished now anyway. But thanks."

He could feel her disappointment as she said, "Another time maybe, well I've got to go and sort Wyatt out. We're gonna go to the park, aren't we sweetie?" the last part directed at Wyatt.

She turned and started to walk away, but then she hesitated and turned back. He could feel her nervousness, it making butterflies in _his_ stomach, as well as hers as she asked, "you could come with us if you want." Her hope that he'd say yes was practically radiating from her.

"Sure," Chris answered, "I'd love to." And it was true. He _did_ want to go to the park with Piper and his little-big brother. He had no reason not to; he'd done enough demon vanquishing today to justify taking a few hours off. Also, he knew just how upset Piper would've been had he said no.

"Great!" Piper smiled, "I'll go and get Wyatt ready!"

As she walked away, Chris sighed. The only bad thing about spending the afternoon with Piper and Wyatt was that it would make him feel more like part of the family…. It would make him feel more like her son, like she _was_ his mother… And the fact remained, he didn't belong here. This wasn't his time, and sooner or later, he'd have to leave. And who knows what he'd be going home _to_.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sorry about this chapter everyone! Not a lot happened, I know. It's kind of a filler chapter, more will happen next time… promise!!!

Again, please here my plea for ideas! And please review and tell me what you thought of this chapter, even though not a lot happened. Because reviews make me happy, and they might make me update quicker…


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I don't own Charmed

Chapter 4

It had been a good idea of hers to ask Chris to come with her and Wyatt to the park, Piper thought as she watched Chris pushing Wyatt on the swings. It was a beautiful sunny day, even though a storm was predicted for later, and it was good for Chris to get out of the house occasionally, and not just to go demon hunting. He had become increasingly pale and tired-looking in the last few weeks, since they'd found out he was family. And Piper knew the reason. It was because of all the nightmares he'd been having.

Almost every night she heard his anguished yells and went to comfort him. She knew that he felt guilty about waking her up every night, and had tried to suggest that he go back to sleeping at the club. But she wouldn't hear of it. She had tried to make him believe her when she said that she really didn't mind, but she could tell that he didn't. He'd convinced himself that he was a burden on her.

She'd been surprised to wake up this morning having had a full nights sleep. At first, she'd thought this was a good sign, and that maybe Chris had had a night off from the nightmares. But when he came down for breakfast she could tell he'd had another one. In some ways, Piper hated the silent nightmares more than the ones where her son woke up screaming, because the silent ones were no less painful for Chris, and it meant that he had to suffer alone.

However, looking at Chris now, you couldn't really tell that he had a care in the world. Much less that he'd grown up in a world gone to hell where his older brother murdered their entire family and terrorised innocents. It disturbed Piper how good Chris was at hiding things. She supposed he'd had to, to survive. And that broke her heart.

Clearly, Wyatt had had enough of the swings. She saw Chris lift him out and come towards where she was sitting on a bench. As they neared her, she could hear what Chris was saying to Wyatt.

"… really worried about something. So what you're gonna do is give her a HUGE hug to cheer her up ok? I tell you what, you get a smile on Mom's face, and I'll buy you an ice cream. Deal?"

When her sons reached her, Chris handed Wyatt to her, who gave her a hug. Just the fact that Chris and Wyatt wanted her to be happy, and the fact that Chris had called her 'mom' (though granted not to her face) was enough to ensure a smile on her face. However she didn't miss the sneaky thumbs up that Chris gave Wyatt.

Looking at Chris interacting with Wyatt, Piper said, "You're great with Wyatt, Chris. You're gonna make a great dad someday."

At these words, Chris stiffened and his smile dropped from his face, which paled to a slightly worrying ashen colour.

Piper was beginning to suspect she'd said something terribly wrong. "I didn't mean soon…," she said, "Just, you know—someday."

Chris sat down on the bench next to her and said, "I _was_ a father—briefly."

_Oh God_, Piper thought, _what have I done now? And when everything was going so well. If there is a higher power out there, please don't let my son have had to lose a child… Lord knows he's been through too much already._

"I…-- me and B-Bianca, my fiancée. We lost our children." Chris continued, staring at the path.

_Children? He lost more than one? Why was fate screwing with him like that?_ Piper thought, tears welling up in her eyes. However, aloud she asked gently, "What happened?" before she could stop herself.

If Chris didn't want to answer the question, then she wouldn't push him, but maybe talking about it might help him. So if he wanted to tell her, then she'd listen.

Chris looked at her, and in his bright emerald eyes, she saw a world of pain that she knew she could never possibly imagine. But seeing that in your child's eyes, someone who it was your duty to protect… Piper was sure that the guilt and pain of failing to protect a child was in her eyes, just as it was in his.

Her traumatised son took a deep breath and said, "it's not a safe world. The future. It's a real 'survival of the fittest' zone. Only the strongest, fastest or cleverest last very long there. Bianca was like that, she was sharp as a knife and one of the best fighters I've ever seen. She rescued me from Wyatt's dungeons. I'd been there for almost 2 years, and I-I wasn't in good shape. I was ready to give in. I don't think I'd have lasted much longer had it not been for Bianca."

As Chris was speaking, Piper glanced from his tortured face to Wyatt sitting on her knee. With his blonde curls, blue eyes and innocent face, he had the semblance of an angel. So how could he have grown up to do such evil? To destroy so many lives, even that of his little brother.

"We went into hiding," Chris continued, "we couldn't go to Bianca's place. She'd betrayed Wyatt. If he'd found her, it would've been her death sentence. But we found an abandoned cellar that had a small kitchen and everything, we set up magical wards, and stayed there. We had to scavenge for food and clothes, but I was quite used to that by now. I knew all the best places to find things, and Bianca knew places in Wyatt's fortress that we could steal from and it not be missed. So after a few months, we were pros at thieving," here Chris looked up at Piper, "not really what you'd have hoped for your son's profession is it?" he looked away again, "A thief."

"Chris, don't talk like that!" Piper said, "You were doing what you had to, to survive. I get that. I'd rather you stole and lived than didn't and died."

Chris nodded, an undeterminable look on his face. When he didn't speak again, Piper asked, "So then what happened?"

"We survived. You can't really call what we did 'living'… or not at first anyway. At first, even though we were allies, Bianca and me didn't even _like_ each other. Almost all our conversations ended in shouting matches," Chris laughed, "I'd ask her why she bothered to rescue me in the first place. And she'd just say that she preferred me when I was unconscious, and she only helped me because she thought that anyone who had such a bastard of a brother deserved a break once in a while. But after several months living together, we grew closer and, well… I-I loved her. We got engaged, even though there was no way we could get married. Wyatt had destroyed all the churches and registry offices," Chris finished with a wry smile.

"And then you and Bianca had a baby?" Piper asked.

Chris nodded and said in a voice of self-loathing, "we should've known better than to try and bring a baby into our world, a place where only the strongest survive. To bring something so small, helpless and… innocent there… they never had a chance." He shook his head, tears brimming in his eyes, and said, "But we were naïve, and we were excited about it." He smiled sadly through the tears, "we were going to be parents… we tried to be more careful, b-but… we weren't careful enough."

By now, both Chris and Piper had tears streaming down their faces. His from the memory, and hers from hearing about her son's tragic life.

Suddenly, as if he'd just realised he'd been spilling his secrets about his past in the future, Chris stood up, wiping his eyes. "We'd better be going, the sun'll be going down soon," he said, and then he gave her a small smile, "Besides, I owe Wyatt an ice cream."

Piper was about to protest, but she look at the sky, and saw that Chris was right. The sun was low, and the sky was beginning to turn various shades of pink and orange. So, with her head aching from all that Chris had just told her, she put Wyatt in his pushchair, and she and Chris walked back to the manor.

Another chapter finished! I really hope you all liked it! It was going to have a lot more stuff happening in it, but then Chris's spiel became a lot longer than I expected, so the rest of what was this chapter, will now be next chapter! (as soon as I've written it!). Sorry if Chris was a little out of character with all the talking, but I figured that occasionally he'd want to get some stuff of his chest, and I wanted Piper to find out some stuff about him.

Anyway, thank you to everyone who's reviewed so far! I love you all!

Please review!

(PS, anyone who's read the books by Kelley Armstrong (particularly Dime Store Magic), please check out my story 'A Sorcerer Lawyer'. I'm starting to feel a bit desperate, it's got all of 0 reviews, and only 7 hits! I'm hoping that that's because not many people have read the books – there are only 11 stories in the archive - and that it's not a reflection of my writing skills!)


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I don't own Charmed

Chapter 5

Once they'd got back to the manor. Piper sorted Wyatt out and put him in his playpen.

Then she called, "Chris! I was going to invite everyone over for a family dinner tonight, what d'you think?" and walked into the kitchen. It was no surprise to her by now to see Chris poring over the book of shadows. It was a wonder to her how he didn't know the whole thing by heart by now.

In answer to her question, Chris muttered distractedly, "Yeah, sure. Sounds good."

"Ok," Piper said slowly, unsure of whether Chris was just agreeing with her or if he'd actually been listening to what she'd been saying. "Well, I'm gonna go and call Phoebe and Paige… and I might ask Leo too, if that's ok." She added the last part tentatively, not wanting to put Chris in a bad mood, but not sure of how he'd react.

But Chris only stiffened slightly, and said, "It's fine. Why wouldn't it be?" Whilst still staring at the book.

As Piper left to call everyone, Chris sighed and shut the book with a snap. He'd been doing his best not to hate the Leo of this time. After all, strictly speaking he hadn't done anything wrong yet. But it was just so difficult not to associate him with the abusive father he'd known.

Maybe, Chris supposed, now that Leo had seen what a tyrant of a father he could become, it wouldn't happen. But deep down, Chris knew that that was wishful thinking, especially if Leo had been under a spell all along.

He didn't have anymore time to contemplate however, because at that moment Piper came back in, all business. "Ok then," she said, "Everyone is coming over for about 8-ish, so I'd better get cooking! Do you want to give me a hand?"

"Sure," Chris answered, his mood brightening. From what he could remember of his childhood, he'd loved helping his mom in the kitchen when he was little, like Wyatt never had.

"Great, so what d'you wanna make?" Piper asked, busily clearing the stuff for making potions off the side, trying to make space.

"Oh, I don't mind. All I know how to make is cookies," Chris said, flushing slightly with embarrassment. "Whenever I helped you cook when I was a kid, that's what we always made. And then, later on… after-after it all…we just cooked… whatever we could find. We didn't really make meals as such."

Piper immediately was dismayed that even the smallest thing like this could dredge up painful memories for Chris. But she didn't let it show, instead she said, "Ok, well I'll make dinner. And you can make us some cookies for dessert!"

So, a little over an hour later, just as Phoebe and Paige arrived, Piper had a meal ready, and the cookies were also nearly done.

"Mmmmm, something smells good!" Phoebe exclaimed entering the kitchen, then after looking through the oven door she squealed, "You made cookies!"

"Actually, Chris did," Piper corrected her.

"Well, whoever made 'em, they smell delicious," Paige said.

The alarm, telling them the cookies were done, interrupted them then. And Chris went to the oven to get them out.

Putting the last of the used kitchen utensils into the sink, Piper turned to her sisters and said, "Can you sort out the table while I put Wyatt to bed? Then we can—Chris what're doing?!" She stared, wide-eyed, at him.

"Getting the cookies out of the oven," Chris answered, really confused by her question.

But by this time, Phoebe and Paige were staring at him as well. "Yeah, I can see that," Piper continued, "But isn't that burning you?" she asked incredulously.

Chris looked down at his hand, and saw what they were all staring at. He hadn't used an oven glove to get the tray of cookies out of the oven. "Oh! No, it's not burning me. It's part of the whole pyrokinesis thing. Don't ask me how it works because honestly I have no idea, handy though!"

"Uh, yeah." Paige agreed, her voice a lot higher than it usually was.

Then, orblights swirled from the ceiling, and formed into Leo.

Chris instantly retreated slightly into himself, and said "I'm gonna set the table," before hastily leaving the room.

After everyone (except Chris) had greeted Leo, Wyatt had been put to bed, and the table set. The family sat down to eat.

The dinner was a success. As usual Piper's meal was delicious and plentiful, there being plenty left over, even after everyone had had several helpings. Chris's cookies also went down well, everyone munching them happily.

But once they had all nearly finished, Piper looked at her son's smiling face, and wished that the evening didn't have to end so soon. Chris was relaxed and smiling for once, just as he had been at the park. Even despite Leo being there, he seemed to be enjoying himself.

So she asked, "Does anyone have anywhere important to be? Or can you all maybe stick around for a little while?"

"I'm not busy," Paige said.

"No, me neither," Phoebe said, "We could stay and watch a movie or something."

"Yeah," Leo agreed, "that sounds—"

He stopped mid-sentence, and turned his eyes to the heavens (otherwise known to those in the know as 'up there' or 'elderland'!). Then he looked back at his family, "They're calling me."

"Figures," Chris muttered under his breath, and then louder, "Go then, you always do."

Leo looked from Chris to Piper, and then back to the ceiling, clearly torn between what he should do.

Piper made the decision for him, she kissed him on the cheek and said, "It was great you could come for dinner anyway. It's ok, we don't blame you for having to leave. It's your job." During the last part she shot a look at Chris that said, _don't argue with me or you'll be grounded for a month_.

It was a look so like the one she'd used in the future that it shocked Chris into silence, and he didn't say anything scathing to Leo before he left.

Following Leo's departure, there was a short awkward silence which Paige broke with, "So, what film are we gonna watch?"

When no one said anything, and Piper went upstairs with Wyatt to put him to bed, she asked, "Chris, what's your favourite film?"

"I don't really have one," Chris answered, "I can't really remember watching many when I was still at home, and then after that… I didn't really have any opportunities to watch them. We had a couple of dvds at the resistance base, you know, that scout groups found. I tell you it was a bitch trying to get the old dvd player we had to work – I had to use magic to hold it together in the end. But we only had a couple of kid films which the kids at the base used to watch over and over again." He smiled at the memory, "and somehow, they never got fed up with them. Even when whoever was looking after them at the time was getting close to tearing their hair out...," then he grinned, adding, "and I know that from experience."

Phoebe and Paige smiled, glad that their nephew had at least some fond memories of his past.

Eventually, once Piper had come back and decided for them, a film was chosen, and they settled down to watch it.

"You know Chris, you really should relax more often, "Paige remarked as the opening titles started, "Neurotic and obsessive doesn't suit you."

Chris just grinned back at her, and they turned their attention back to the film.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

As the film ended, Paige groaned and looked at her watch, "I should be getting back home. Richard'll be worrying about where I am."

Phoebe also moaned slightly as she got up from her comfortable position of the sofa, "Yeah, I should be going too. Paige, could you orb me home?"

As Paige was answering, Piper shushed them and said in an annoyed voice, but trying to keep it as quiet as possible, "Guys, could you keep your voices down please?!"

"Sure," Phoebe answered in a loud whisper, "but why?"

Piper didn't say anything, but pointed at the sofa behind her.

Phoebe and Paige both turned around to see that Chris was fast asleep, slumped where he'd been sitting watching the film. The two younger sisters noted how peaceful Chris looked when he slept, and how much younger he looked. While he was asleep, he couldn't keep up the façade of having to be strong the whole time, the look he had when he was awake, the whole carrying-the-world-on-his-shoulders look, had vanished, knocking years off how old he looked. When he was awake he didn't look old, but… well, it was at times like these that the sisters realised who Chris really was. He was a young man who'd lost too much too young in his life. A young man who'd had to look after himself since he was just a boy, and hadn't had nearly the amount of love or protection that he deserved from his family.

Piper however, who had already seen Chris sleep, and knew how young and innocent he could look, was praying that her son's sleep would remain peaceful tonight.

After her sisters had gone, Piper went back to look at Chris. He was still fast asleep, and she couldn't bring herself to disturb him to get him to go up to bed. So in the end she settled for placing a blanket over his curled up form.

Once she'd tucked it round him, she brushed his too-long hair of his face and kissed his forehead. "Goodnight Peanut," she said, turning off the light as she left the room, and began to make her way up the stairs.

However, when she was only halfway up the stairs, the whole house suddenly shuddered and shook. The pictures hanging up rattled against the wall, one of them falling to the floor, the glass smashing. Then, as suddenly as it started, the shaking stopped and everything was calm again. Well, almost everything.

Piper could hear quiet muttering and moaning coming from the living room—_Oh no! Chris!_ she thought, hurrying back to him.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sorry it's taken me so long to update, but I had some serious issues with this chapter. This is the 2nd version, and while I think it's much better than the 1st one, I'm still really not happy with it. However, on the bright side, I have high hopes for the next chapter where you will find out more about Chris's children and possibly what happened to them. That was going to happen in this chapter, but it would've been uber-long then, and I really wanted to update today.

Yeah, so – if anyone has any ideas for baby names, I would love to hear them. I do already have some ideas, but still.

Hope you liked this chapter, please review!


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I don't own Charmed

Thank you everyone for your reviews so far!!!

Chapter 6

Piper hurried back to Chris's side. He was still asleep, but she could tell that his brief period of peace was now over, and that a nightmare had taken hold of him.

His was a picture of distress. His eyes were moving rapidly beneath their lids, his breathing erratic and he was twitching and shaking. He tossed his head from side to side and muttered, "It's too dangerous… don't wanna lose you…"

She couldn't let him suffer like this. Piper shook his shoulder gently and called softly, "Chris? Chris, wake up."

But Chris only muttered, "I check everywhere out first…"

Piper had a sick feeling in her stomach as to where this nightmare was leading. She shook him again, harder this time, and said desperately, "Chris! Wake up now peanut! Please wake up!"

Then, for a second, Chris calmed down. The stress lines on his face smoothed out, his breathing evened out, and he stopped twitching. Piper had almost dared to believe that it was over when suddenly the symptoms of Chris's nightmare returned – tenfold.

Chris started convulsing violently, his face screwed up with pain. He yelled, "…Get out of here!" his voice laden with fear, as well as pain. As he thrashed and flailed, Piper was lost with what to do. She tried yelling at him to wake up, she tried shaking him, but Chris wouldn't wake up. He was stuck in his nightmare, and she was facing one of hers: being a helpless onlooker to a son's pain and suffering. And she was in no doubt that he was suffering, this was the worst nightmare she'd ever seen him have.

All the furniture in the house began to shake again. Pictures rattled on the walls, ornaments on their shelves and the larger furnishings creaked and groaned in protest to the movement. But this time, Piper was sure of what was causing it. Her family's powers were tied to their emotions and one of Chris's many powers was telekinesis. He was definitely going through something emotional enough to make him subconsciously start using his powers.

As tears began to stream down her youngest son's face, Piper found her own vision beginning to go blurry as tears filled her eyes too. "Please Chris, baby! Wake up!" she begged frantically, her voice breaking, "You've got to wake up now sweetie! Please Chris!"

But she knew her actions were in vain. Chris couldn't hear her. "Oh God, no. Please no." he whispered.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

_Chris's Nightmare/ memory…_

"Please Chris, just this once?" Bianca was pleading.

He looked at his heavily pregnant girlfriend, and sighed, "But we agreed. We said that I'd do all the going out and getting everything we need until the baby's born. It's too dangerous out there…" He ran his thumb over her cheek, "I just don't wanna lose you… either of you," he added, putting a hand on her swollen abdomen.

"I know it's not safe, but you said it yourself that it's been much quieter out there recently. I just have to get out! After 6 months of being cooped up in here, I'm going crazy!" She said, frustrated. "Besides, I _can_ take care of myself. You know that. And even if I couldn't. You'd protect us – wouldn't you?"

It wasn't so much a question, as a statement, but Chris still spluttered out, "Of course I would—b-but… it's just that…"

Ignoring his protestations, Bianca smiled, pulled Chris to her, and kissed him forcefully, effectively silencing his attempts to dissuade her from going out.

When they eventually parted, Chris smiled weakly back at Bianca and said, "Ok then, but only on two conditions: I check everywhere out first, and we're invisible the whole time."

"Bianca nodded, "Agreed."

10 minutes later, he and Bianca were walking slowly down an alley, shrouded in a cloak of invisibility. Bianca closed her eyes and took a deep breath of fresh air, or air as fresh it could be these days anyway.

Chris meanwhile, was on alert, listening intently for any signs of approaching footsteps. He was also reaching out with his empathy and telepathy as far as his capability would allow him, sensing for any malevolent thoughts or feelings of any rogue demons or other threats around. But there was nothing, everywhere was deserted, devoid of any life of any kind.

He was just daring to think that maybe it really was safe to stand in the alley for a few minutes, when suddenly his radar went crazy. A barrage of inhuman, sadistic intentions and thoughts hit him like a sack of bricks. In shock and horror, he grabbed his head in pain, and yelled, "Bianca! Get out of here!"

Within a millisecond, he had recovered enough to face the hoard of demons who had just shimmered to their exact location, no doubt sent directly by Wyatt.

The little brother of the source of all evil stood facing the minions, and felt fear. But it wasn't fear for his own safety, that he'd lost years ago. It was a near paralysing fear for the life of his and Bianca's defenceless unborn child. Bianca was a good fighter; he knew that from experience. She'd been one of Wyatt's top assassins until she'd betrayed him. But Chris still felt fear for her, because she was nearly 6 months pregnant, and the extra weight she was carrying around meant that she wasn't even a fraction of how fast and flexible she used to be.

He squeezed his hands into fists in determination, Wyatt and his stupid regime had taken his whole family, his home, his friends, his future from him. He wasn't going to lose the only good thing that had happened to him in the last 7 years to it as well. He wasn't going to lose Bianca and the baby to his tyrannical, twisted older brother.

He didn't wait for the demons to move first. He sent streams of fire and ice at them whilst simultaneously using his TK to throw an onslaught of pieces of rubble at them.

Bianca who was standing behind him was throwing energy ball after energy ball at them, vanquishing her share of demons too. Chris wished that she'd heed his words and get to safety, but he also knew that it was futile to tell her to. She wouldn't leave him here alone.

Chris also wished, and not for the first time, that he could project his shield onto others. Then he could protect Bianca no problem.

As he and Bianca each vanquished another demon, a spark of hope ignited in Chris. Maybe they would get through this unharmed.

Unfortunately, they hadn't accounted for the witch hiding amongst the demons, a witch with power over the senses and who no doubt was a powerful ally of Wyatt's.

The witch threw out his hands, and Chris suddenly found himself completely blind. In the pitch blackness he found himself in, he blinked frantically, willing his vision to return. But nothing happened. To make matters worse, the thoughts and actual sounds he was hearing weren't helping him at all, they were only making the whole situation more confusing.

He tried to still his violently shaking hands, and took a deep breath. He had to get this together or both he and Bianca were dead. He concentrated on differentiating the sounds he was hearing, looking for the one that was the witch that'd done this to him.

Then he heard it, thoughts that were more human than the rest, but just as evil.

But at the same moment he found the witch, he heard another sound. One that made his blood run cold. Bianca's scream of pain.

Without a second of hesitation, he threw a fireball at the witch and knew it'd met it's target when his sight returned just in time to see the bastard disappear in a sheet of flames.

The last remaining demons took one look at the visage of pure fury and rage on the young witchlighter's face and shimmered out in fear.

Instantly Chris was at Bianca's side. Either an energy ball or a fireball had hit her in the stomach. It wasn't a fatal injury for her, but it was one that could be mortally serious for the child growing inside of her.

Her screams of anguish and grief filled the air, as she imagined the worst for their baby's fate.

Chris tried to apply some pressure to the wound, and wished for the thousandth time that he had the ability to heal. He desperately went thought through the name of every whitelighter and elder he'd ever known, trying to think of one that was still alive and free. To his horror and despair, he came up with none.

He looked at the blood staining his hands, felt his and Bianca's hearts break, their worlds crashing down around them, and whispered, "Oh God, no. Please no."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Piper was just considering calling her sisters, or even Leo to come and help her when Chris's eyelids fluttered and then opened.

Before she could say anything, he'd sat bolt upright and was looking frantically at his hands, breathing heavily. "Blood. Too much blood!" he whispered brokenly.

"There's no blood there sweetie," Piper tried to comfort him, kneeling at his side.

"There was. After…" then, evidently remembering what had happened, he broke down.

Piper pulled him into her arms, and let him cry. This was clearly a burden he'd been carrying alone for some time. Sobs racked his body and he clung to her, just as if she were the mother he'd known.

After a minute, Piper pulled away from him slightly and sat on the sofa next to him. She wasn't really sure of what to expect from him; whether he'd want to talk about his dream, or just sit in comforting silence with her.

It seemed that Chris had had enough of the silence and being alone. After a minute, he began to speak. His voice was still husky from crying, and his words weren't particularly loud, but nevertheless, Piper heard every single painful world he spoke.

"While Bianca was pregnant, she was injured, b-badly. I managed to get her back home, and stop the bleeding… But—but she went into premature l-labour. And… it turned out she'd been carrying twins: Isabel Piper and Natasha Lynn. Isabel was… she was…" a fresh wave of tears stained his face, "Isa was born d-dead… she'd been k-killed by the injury to Bianca. But Natasha… she was ok – she was unharmed. But she was very small… too small." Chris paused for a second, "Maybe if we'd lived in a different time, like 15 years earlier or something… then it would've been ok. But in our time… in our world…there were no hospitals, no grocery stores, no central heating… So, we just didn't have enough food, warmth… anything… and—and it was a really cold winter. We didn't have anything to burn, so I'd sit there beside her crib I made with a fireball in my hand… just trying to keep her warm."

Piper noticed that Chris's hands were now shaking uncontrollably. She reached out her own, and took his in hers. He continued, his voice breaking, "But, it—it didn't work… she was too weak, too small… In the end there was nothing we could do… she—she died too…"

Then Chris stopped speaking for a while. He stared blankly into the space ahead of him, deep in thought. Then he spoke, in a voice deadly serious, "Promise me something."

"What?"

"If I fail, and Wyatt turns, and everything happens exactly as it did last time. When they die… look after them for me?" he turned to Piper, and at that moment, she knew how important this was for him.

"I promise," she replied, "But I also promise that we're going to do everything possible to make sure that that is _not_ the future you're going to go back to."

"Thank you." Then after a slightly awkward pause, he continued, "I think I just need to be alone now," and he promptly orbed out before she could argue.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

High up on the Golden Gate Bridge, Chris was trying to clear his head. It was a cold night, and storm clouds were forming in the almost unnaturally peaceful sky.

_The calm before the storm_, Chris thought, as the first raindrops began to fall.

Tears were still running down his face, the rain now mixing with them. He hadn't finished crying for his infant daughters, and he didn't think he ever would, not in this lifetime anyway.

He'd made a vow, in the future – his past. That he would save Wyatt and stop the world going to hell, or die trying. But he hadn't made this vow when his mother and other family had been killed, because back then he knew that really, they were supposed to be taking care of him. But once Isabel and Natasha had died before they'd had a chance to live, he couldn't forgive himself for failing them. He was supposed to have been protecting them, he'd let them down, and they'd died because of it.

So, the young whitelighter from the future stood on the bridge in the now-pouring rain, as the thunderstorm raged around him. The nightmare had reminded him of all that he had lost, and all that he had to save. He was filled with renewed resolve that this time around, it would not happen again.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

There you go guys! My attempt at pulling some heartstrings – did it work? Are you all quivering wrecks now? Or did you all think it was rubbish? (sorry about the continuous Chris-bashing by the way!)

I'm sorry it took longer than I thought for me to update, and that I haven't proof read it (so, sorry about any typos!). I also have to apologise in advance, for how long it's going to be before the next chapter. It's probably going to be quite a while as I have nothing written down… I have a kind of long term plan thing… but nothing for chapter 7. I am also very very busy at the moment. But please don't forget about this story, however long it is between now and the next update (could be a week if inspiration hits… or a lot longer) I haven't abandoned it! And please do nag me, or pass on ideas, or just say hi if you want to!

Right, I think that was all I had to say, so… please review!


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I don't own Charmed

Chapter 7

The Halliwells were worried.

Piper had told them all about Chris's nightmare, and in the week since then he had been continuously vanquishing demons as if there was no tomorrow. He'd been orbing in and out of the manor at random times of the day and night to find a spell from the book of shadows, or to make a vanquishing potion, but never to eat or sleep. The only thing that Piper was relieved about was that he hadn't gone back to sleeping at the club yet, but the way that his mood was going, she feared that that was what he'd do next.

His family was worried about Chris's well-being. Plain and simple. They'd thought that he rarely ate or slept before, but now it didn't seem like he _ever_ did. But it wasn't just that he was beginning to look increasingly thin and pale either. Frequently, Chris would come back from a vanquish with a new injury. The injuries never seemed to be life-threatening, but they were willing to bet that even if it was, Chris wouldn't tell them about it. He'd just ignore it, or try to deal with it by himself. And that was what was really worrying them; Chris's apparent recklessness and neglect when it came to his own health, safety, or even his own happiness.

They'd tried to talk to him about his new crusade, and his injuries, and had tried to persuade him to let them treat them, or call Leo to heal them. But Chris would just brush them aside with a muttered excuse and continue with what he was doing, either the latest vanquishing potion, or researching new threats.

Leo had also tried to get Chris to talk to him on several occasions, but again Chris would just make a non-committal answer and leave to work on the next demon. It was obvious to everyone, including Leo, that Chris was hoping that Leo would just drop the whole issue of him being a bad father. But that was just one of the ways that it showed just how little Chris seemed to know about Leo. The Charmed Ones didn't know how it was in the future, but they knew that in this time, there was no way that Leo was giving up just yet. The Elder couldn't understand how he could do such things to any child, let alone a child of his own. It was so unlike him, even though he'd been brought up in a time when hitting children was generally considered acceptable. Leo had changed with the times, and thought that spanking was always wrong, let alone abuse.

So, that evening, a week after the nightmare, Piper, Phoebe, Paige and Leo were all in the attic, with Wyatt in his playpen, trying to decide what to do about Chris. They couldn't decide how best to help him.

The discussion was just starting to get quite heated and was looking like it was going to progress into an argument when Chris orbed in, effectively silencing everyone in the room.

"Speak of the devil," Paige muttered under her breath.

She and everyone else realised, as soon as she'd spoken, that Chris had heard her. How could he not of with hearing as good as his?

But Chris shown no sign of having heard Paige. He merely headed toward the table in the middle of the room, and started picking up each of the vanquishing potions in turn, obviously looking for a particular one.

As he searched, the group got a good look at his face, which was unscathed and unblemished.

This worried them because they all knew for a fact that earlier today he'd had a burn on one side of his face, probably from a stray fireball. The girls had been horrified when they'd seen him, but when they'd mentioned calling Leo to heal him, Chris had orbed out instantly, not waiting to see if they really would.

So now, a few hours later, when he hadn't been healed, how could the burn be gone?

The same thought ran through the mind of each and every one of them. They glanced at each other, wondering whose turn it was to confront Chris. But before anyone asked anything, Chris said, "It's not important. It's not life-threatening, it doesn't impact me in any way, so just leave it alone."

He'd said it in a nonchalant manner whilst still searching through the dozens of potions for the one he wanted, but his family was appalled. How could he care so little about himself to say that something like this wasn't important?

Phoebe was about to protest, and argue back that it was important, but Piper put a hand on her arm to quiet her. She was remembering something from one of the visits into Chris's memories. The small boy lying fully clothed on his bed, with a black eye and a split lip. Then, moments later, the same boy showing no signs of injury. Piper remembered Chris's words when they'd asked him about it. She could almost hear his voice, echoing in her mind, _"Glamouring. By the time I was six I was an expert at it." _Knowing Chris, it wouldn't surprise her if he was now an expert at not showing the twinges of pain or the constant stinging burn that came with an injury like that as well as simply glamouring them.

"You've glamoured your injuries. Haven't you?" Her voice was calm and steady, but her eyes showed the pain, and anger she felt at her son keeping something like this from her.

As she spoke, the others also remembered the same image of Chris's past and realised that it was probably true.

And Chris didn't dispute it. "If I show up to vanquish demons with an injury, they try harder to kill me, and they're harder to intimidate because it shows them that I can be injured and that I'm not invincible."

"But you're not invincible!" Piper said, voice raised, "None of us are!"

At her words, something in Chris snapped, "I KNOW THAT!" he yelled. Then he continued, quieter though, "I lost you all, and I've nearly died myself, on more than one occasion. Don't you think I know that by now?"

Then he mumbled, "I've got to go," and grabbed the vanquishing potion he'd sorted out from the rest, orbing out.

Just as the last of the trail of orb lights disappeared through the ceiling, another light appeared. But this one was a shimmering pool of light on the far wall of the attic: a portal. None of the group was in any doubt that it was a portal, most likely from the future.

Phoebe, Paige and Leo each seized several vanquishing potions from the table, and Piper raised her hands in front of her, ready to blow something up if necessary.

Chris had told them of how the resistance against Wyatt's regime had been crushed, it's members hunted down and either captured or killed. He had also warned them that they should assume that any visitors from the future would be hostile.

As they watched the portal with baited breath, it rippled. Then it shimmered, and several figures stepped out from the future and into the present…

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

So, inspiration hit, and here you are with another chapter! And an evil cliffie! MWA HA HA HA!!! Or my pathetic attempt at one, to which you all know exactly what's going to happen… Anyway, whichever it is, I hope everyone liked this chapter and that everyone is going to send me a lovely review! (hint, hint)

I'm really not very happy with this chapter, I've been over it again and again, but I couldn't fix it anymore. It just seemed so sort of…bleh, I have no other words to describe it than that I'm afraid!

Ok, well I've got to go and get started on the next chapter! But remember! Reviews do make me write faster, and they motivate me to finish chapters, so please hit the ickle purple button and leave one for me, I try to reply to them all!


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I don't own Charmed

_Last time…_

_Chris had told them of how the resistance against Wyatt's regime had been crushed, it's members hunted down and either captured or killed. He had also warned them that they should assume that any visitors from the future would be hostile._

_As they watched the portal with baited breath, it rippled. Then it shimmered, and several figures stepped out from the future and into the present…_

Warning: more swearing than usual in this chapter

Chapter 8

The two figures solidified and came into focus. The sisters and Leo all tensed, ready for an attack.

In the corner of the room, in his playpen, Wyatt's shield went up, the blue bubble surrounding him.

This was all the proof that the Charmed Ones or Leo needed that the strangers were indeed there to cause harm. So they weren't going to wait for the demons to make the first move and attack.

Phoebe threw her potion at one, while Piper attempted to blow the other up.

Immediately, with astounding agility, the sandy haired man dropped to the floor and rolled out of the way of Piper's attack, which destroyed part of a cupboard, making splinters of wood fly everywhere. Simultaneously, the slightly taller, dark haired man shimmered out of the way of Phoebe's potion, which smashed harmlessly on the floor.

When he shimmered back in, the taller dark haired man said, "Shit, don't—"

But Paige didn't give him a chance to finish his sentence. She threw another potion at him, orbing out when he caught it and threw it back.

Instantly, Leo, Phoebe and Piper all aimed attacks at the 2 strangers, Leo sending a stream of lightening, Phoebe throwing several potions and Piper trying to blow them up.

The sandy haired man orbed out, reappearing next to the other man. Once he'd fully reformed, a blue bubble appeared, one identical to the one surrounding Wyatt. It enclosed itself around the 2 men, protecting them. The attacks that'd been thrown at them hit the bubble and dissipated, leaving the men unharmed.

But then, whilst the sisters and Leo were still gaping at the bubble, it wavered, and disappeared.

Taking advantage of the Charmed Ones temporary inaction, the taller of the pair of men pushed the younger one slightly behind him, raised his hands in a defensive posture and called, "Wait! We're not evil! Stop trying to vanquish us!"

The sisters and Leo tensed, ready for an attack while Piper asked icily, "Then who are you?"

Again, the taller, dark haired man spoke, "We're from the resistance. We're on your side!"

"See, now we know you're lying," Paige said, a potion raised, "we know that the resistance was destroyed, and everyone in it was killed."

"What? No it wasn't!" the man objected, seeming genuinely shocked at the idea, "why would you—…oh I see… so _that's_ why he never came back…"

"Who never came back? What're you talking about?" Leo asked, electricity still crackling over his hands.

"Chris," the young man stated, "he's the one who told you the resistance was gone, wasn't he?"

He shook his head, and didn't wait for an answer to his question before continuing, "while Chris was in his dungeons, that bastard Wyatt must've convinced him that he'd found our base and destroyed it," the he made a sound that could only be described as a growl and almost yelled, "I could _kill_ him! How could he do that to his little brother for fuck's sake?!"

The sisters and Leo all glanced at each other, unsure of what to do or say. It seemed like a plausible story, and the emotion behind his words was definitely true, unless this man was a _very_ good actor. Also, there was the matter of the sandy haired man… he orbed, and used an energy shield like Wyatt's, and those weren't the powers of a demon… So could they be telling the truth?

Phoebe wasn't getting any kind of empathic read off of either of the men, so she was none the wiser than the others.

Paige made their decision for them of what to do, and remarked, "But how do we know you aren't demons making up some story to try to make us trust you?"

The others agreed, not showing any signs of putting down their vanquishing potions.

"No, we can prove we're telling the truth," the taller man interrupted, "call Chris, he'll vouch for us."

"Yeah, but how do we know that you weren't sent here to kill Chris?" Phoebe asked, "You could be getting us to call him here so you can kill him."

"A crystal cage," the sandy haired man suggested quietly.

"What?" Leo asked.

The younger man looked distinctly nervous at being asked to repeat his suggestion again, it being the first time he'd spoken in their encounter so far. "Y-you could put a c-crystal cage around us, while you call Chris."

"That could work. Paige?" Piper asked.

"Crystals! Circle!" Paige called, the crystals instantly appearing in a circle around the 2 men, trapping them.

Now that they knew for sure that they were in no danger, the ones from the past could now look at the strangers properly.

The taller of the two was tall, taller than Leo and definitely taller than Chris if they'd stood side by side. He looked like he was maybe in his mid twenties, with dark hair that was a little too long, just beginning o flop into his eyes. His eyes were a clear crystal blue. On the whole, he was very attractive. But it looked as if life hadn't been kind to him. His clothes were all worn out, ripped and dirty, and he was too thin for his quite muscled build. Not only that, but his face was marred by a scar that stretched from his chin, along his jawbone and even through his ear.

The other man was younger, maybe only 19, or 20. He was slightly shorter, about the same height and build as Chris. He had grey/blue eyes and sandy coloured hair that, like the other man's, was a bit too long. However, his hair was dirty looking, so it could've been blonde and just needed a wash. He was very pale, and like the other man, had a vivid scar. But his ran along his throat. The sisters and Leo all shuddered when they realised that he must've had his throat cut.

It was beginning to really look as if the men were telling the truth. At first glance, they looked savage and unkempt enough to be demons, but on closer inspection they looked more like deprived, probably starving people who'd been through way too much in their lives. Just like Chris.

However, thinking better safe than sorry, they called Chris anyway.

He didn't come at first, apparently ignoring them until Piper yelled "Chris is you don't get down here now, you'll be grounded 'til you leave home!"

At that, a trail of orb lights appeared.

Once Chris had fully formed, with an annoyed look on his face, he looked at his family and was about to speak. But then he caught sight of the crystal cage, and its current occupants.

He stared for a second and then asked in disbelief, "Seth? Nathan?!"

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hope you enjoyed that! So now you know who came through the portal… pleased? Or really disappointed? Please review and tell me!

By the way, when I was writing the description of Nathan (the younger, sandy haired guy) I imagined him to look like Garrett Hedlund did in the film, Four Brothers (he played the youngest brother, Jack), so if you've seen that, now you know! (and if you haven't seen it, I really recommend it!)

I don't think I've got anything else particular to tell you… so, yeah, I'll try to update at least once more before Christmas.

Please review!


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I don't own Charmed

Warning: Some stronger language in this chapter. Not much, and I'm sure that no one will care, but it's better to warn you right?

_Last time…_

_Once Chris had fully formed, with an annoyed look on his face, he looked at his family and was about to speak. But then he caught sight of the crystal cage, and its current occupants._

_He stared for a second and then asked in disbelief, "Seth? Nathan?!"_

Chapter 9

"Yeah, it's us Chris. But would you mind telling them that?" Seth (the taller and older one) nodded towards the Charmed Ones, "Because we'd kinda like to get out of here sometime today."

But Chris was having his own difficulties, namely speaking coherently, "Yeah, but—I-I mean you're—both of you are—I thought you w-were—W-Wyatt told me—He showed me… I thought everyone was d-dead."

"Chris man, we're not dead ok?" Seth said, then he stiffened slightly and asked in a harder voice, "What did Wyatt tell you he did?"

"I—" Chris glanced from his family to Seth and Nathan, "I'll tell you later. First of all…" then he turned to his family and said, "They're ok. You can trust them. These are friends of mine."

"Are you sure they're who they say they are?" Leo asked, "They could be demons or shape shifters pretending to be them."

"No, it's them," Chris assured them, "Trust me, I'm an empath and a telepath. I know it's them."

"Ok, well if you're sure… Crystals!" Paige called, and the crystal cage was broken, the crystals returning to their box.

Phoebe smiled nervously at the two guys from the future, "Sorry about that. But y'know, you can't be too careful!"

"No, that's alright. We understand," Seth said, "Suspicion can help to keep you and your family alive. Where we come from," he gestured at himself, Nathan and Chris, "Being suspicious of something or someone new is like our second nature. It's how we survive." Then he turned back to Chris, "Anyway, it's explanation time Chris. What did Wyatt tell you? Is that why you didn't come back? I mean, you were basically our leader. We needed you man."

Immediately, a look of guilt crossed Chris's face, "I'm sorry. I thought that the resistance had been destroyed. Wyatt told me—"

"Wyatt told you!" Seth practically yelled, "C'mon Chris! You know better than to believe that bastard's lies! He plays fucking mind games man! That's what he does, he screws with your mind, until you don't know what's what. I thought you knew better than to listen to his shit!"

"Watch your mouth young man." Piper said sternly, very aware that Wyatt was still in his playpen, and listening to every word.

Seth looked at Wyatt sitting in his blue bubble. He frowned for a second, but just muttered absently, "Yeah, sorry."

Chris glanced briefly at Wyatt, and then turned his attention back to Seth. "Look," he said, slightly desperately, wanting his friend to understand, "It wasn't just Wyatt _telling_ me that he destroyed the base. He showed me a holograph recording of him destroying it. I saw you _die_, both of you." He paused for a second, and no one interrupted him. They could hear the pain in his voice, they knew how much see the footage must've hurt, even if it wasn't real. "And I know now, that it was fake. But he also brought a dozen or so people into the dungeons that day, and every single one of them was in the resistance."

Nathan spoke up, "In the months you were… away, a few scout groups went missing. They went out, and never came back. But we couldn't find out what happened to them, it was like they'd disappeared off the face of the earth. Nothing would find them, and our spies in Wyatt's ranks knew nothing either. Well, I guess we know where they are now…" he trailed off, trying not to think about what could be happening to them where they were.

"So how did you know where I was?" Chris asked.

"Well, we heard from our spies that you'd escaped," Seth explained, "And after a few days, when you didn't show up at the base, we started doing locator spells. We thought we caught a glimmer of you once or twice, but when we went to check it out, there was never anything there. But then one day, you dropped off our radar completely. Nothing, nadda, zilch. We feared the worst at first. Thought maybe a demon had finally got lucky, and you'd snuffed it. But we didn't want to just assume, and fortunately… or unfortunately depending on how you look at it, your big brother always knows where you are. So between our spies and our 'persuasion' of a few of his demons" here he gave a grin that was positively predator-like, "we discovered that you were here!"

Seth spread his arms wide and asked, "So what're you doing _here_ Chris? What happened in 2004 that was so important?"

"I came back to save Wyatt," Chris answered. "To stop whatever it was that turned him."

"You came to—" Seth started, "You're insane! You don't mess with time Chris! You're not supposed to be here. Just your presence in this time could have drastic consequences on the future!"

"Yeah, we know," Paige cut in, "You really don't need to tell him that. 'Future consequences' is practically Chris's motto."

Seth ignored her, "I know he's your brother Chris. But he's a lost cause, I thought you'd accepted that by now."

"I'd accepted it in the future," Chris protested, "But look at him Seth!" he gestured to baby Wyatt, with his big blue eyes, golden curls, and innocent face. "He's good here! I can save him. He's not a lost cause yet."

Seth didn't look at Wyatt, but kept his eyes on Chris, "Ok Chris. Say you save Wyatt. Say he never turns evil. What then? Sure you probably wouldn't lose your family so young. Sure thousands of others wouldn't die, or probably wouldn't anyway. But what about the ones who would suffer Chris?"

Chris narrowed his eyes, "What do you mean?"

"What about the kids Chris? The kids that live in the base, practically all their parents met in the resistance. What happens when you change that? They might not meet, and you could be erasing their children from existence." Seth looked at Piper, whose bump was just beginning to show, "I mean you're alright I see, and I'd be about 5 years old by this time. But what about the others?" He paused, and then gestured towards Nathan, "Take Nathan for example. He won't be born for about another… what is it Nathe?"

"4 years," Nathan replied, his eyes on Chris.

"There you go," Seth continued, "By your actions, you could start a chain of events and he could never be born! And I don't just mean Nathan specifically. This could happen to _anyone_," he paused for a second, and then added, "Even members of _your_ family."

Chris had no argument for Seth. Why couldn't Seth understand? He was doing this for the good of thousands… millions maybe. And while he regretted that there was the possibility that some of the people he'd known, some of his cousins even, wouldn't be born, it was for the greater good.

At that thought, he shuddered internally. He was starting to sound like Gideon, always going on about the greater good.

He looked around desperately, looking for some support that he was doing the right thing. He knew his family wouldn't say anything. They knew that he knew what they'd say, and that Seth would say they were biased because Wyatt was their son, and they'd never met the people in the future.

But Chris was surprised when a quiet voice spoke up from behind him.

"You're doing the right thing Chris. It's worth the risk," Nathan said.

Seth sighed and looked at his feet, but knew he was out numbered and so didn't argue back. Instead, changing the subject he asked, "So, how are you man? You're looking way better than you ever did on the base. You've gained a bit of weight and lost a few scars, and you're not quite as goddamn pale as you usually are. Nice threads by the way."

Chris grinned at this 'flattering' description, but Piper was horrified. Ever since she'd first seen Chris she'd always thought he was way too skinny, and since she found out he was her son, she'd been trying to feed him up a bit. But now she'd found out that this was _over_ weight for him? How thin was he before? And it also meant she'd been right about the glamouring… he was probably glamouring his scars as well.

By this point though, the Charmed Ones and Leo were starting to feel quite ignored. Phoebe cleared her throat loudly to signal to Chris that they were still there.

At this, Chris turned to them and said, "Oh yeah, I'm sorry. Umm, Guys, this is Seth and Nathan. Seth, Nathan, this is my family. This is my mom, Piper, my aunt Phoebe, my aunt Paige, and Leo… and of course you already know Wyatt.

Seth shook each of their hands in turn, saying "Nice to meet you at last, I've heard a lot about you," to all of them, except when he shook Leo's hand. Then he became a lot colder and merely said, "Leo. I've heard a lot about you too."

Nathan offered everyone a shy smile, but refused to meet Leo's eyes.

This cold reaction to Leo caused an awkward silence. Piper broke it however, saying, "Right, I'm going to make dinner. Is everyone hungry?"

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

There you go everyone, I hope you all liked it. Bit of a lame ending I'm afraid. And I'm really sorry that I've left it so long. But I've been really busy (with it being Christmas and everything) and I've also been really quite sick. Well, I'm still sick, actually I don't have a voice at the moment… but I'm getting better! (I'm a bit annoyed though, cause I was supposed to be going blood doning tomorrow… oh well.)

Yeah, I'm not too happy with this chapter…well I never am really. But please tell me what you think. Next chapter, more will be explained about Seth and Nathan. More about who they are, and their backgrounds.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Please review!


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I don't own Charmed, or any of its characters. I do however own Seth and Nathan – yay!

Warning: from now on, in any chapter that Seth's in, expect some swearing. And yeah, he's in this one!

Chapter 10

As it turned out, everyone was hungry. So everyone trouped downstairs with Piper to the kitchen, aside from Leo who was putting Wyatt to bed.

In the kitchen, Piper started moving things off the side, making space to cook. As she did this, she said, "Ok, you guys are the guests. What would you like to eat?"

Seth and Nathan glanced at each other, not knowing what to say. They didn't know what people ate in this time. And they never had any choice in the future. There you ate whatever you were lucky enough to get, or you starved. That was the only choice they usually had.

Understanding what they were thinking, having gone through the same thing himself when he first arrived, Chris answered for them, "Just make whatever you want to Piper. Whatever it is will be fine."

Then everyone else went into the dining room, chatting while they waited. Nathan however, lingered behind.

"Can I help?" he asked.

"Sure," Piper replied, surprised that he'd _want_ to help, "You can peel some potatoes for me if that's ok."

While he peeled potatoes, and she hovered over the stove, Piper looked at Nathan. It broke her heart to think that innocent people like him grew up in a war zone because of her son. Nathan was scarcely more than a boy. He was even younger than Chris, and yet, like so many others, he had obviously suffered terribly from the atrocities that had been catapulted at him by the world he lived in.

Having now seen several other people from the future (besides Chris), Piper was convinced that, if she had to pick a future person out from a crowd, she'd be able to do it. And not just because of their appearances. Everyone she'd met from the future (which granted, was only 3 people) had a haunted look in their eyes that never went away, however much they tried to hide it. Piper had seen it in Chris's green eyes ever since she'd first met him. She could see it in Nathan's grey eyes even as he sat in front of her. And earlier, she'd seen it in Seth's clear blue eyes.

However, as she looked at him, she also noticed that Nathan was watching the chatting, laughing group in the dining room with what could only be described as a wistful look.

"Penny for your thoughts?" she asked, slightly hesitantly. Piper was all too aware that she still knew nothing about this boy, and that they were complete strangers to each other.

Nathan whirled round to face her, and stuttered, "Sorry, I—" before continuing in a stronger, but still quiet voice, "Make the most of what you have here. It's not until they're all gone that you'll truly realise what you had."

Piper got the definite feeling that he was speaking from personal experience. But that didn't really surprise her. As terrible as it seemed, she hadn't been expecting either of Chris's friends to have a happy life story.

So, Piper nodded in response to his advice, showing that she understood. And then they went back to cooking.

Once the food had all been dished up, everyone tucked in. For a brief moment though, Seth and Nathan stared at the amount of food on their plate disbelievingly. However, once that moment had passed, they began to devour the meal ravenously.

Seeing how quickly Seth and Nathan were eating, Phoebe said, "Whoa! Slow down guys, the food's not going to run away!" and then, as they returned their attention to their plates, although slightly slower this time, she added, "You look as if you haven't eaten for a month!"

"No, only for about a week," Nathan corrected her, who was beginning to gather up the confidence to speak more often. "We've been having some food shortages."

Phoebe had meant her comment as a joke. So finding out how little food available there actually was in the future came as a huge shock to the Halliwells. They were used to eating several times a day, with grocery stores open and full of supplies whenever they needed them. So there was no way they could begin to imagine not eating for a whole week.

However, during the slightly awkward silence that had followed Nathan's remark, Paige, Phoebe, Piper and Leo had all stolen glances at Chris. And from the way his complete attention was on his plate, and on not looking at them, they could tell that not eating for long periods of time was something that he could relate to.

Leo broke the silence, clearing his throat and asking, "So, err, do you mind… telling us a bit about yourselves?" He'd almost trailed off before the last bit, while trying to ignore the dirty look that Seth was sending his way.

Piper, who like everyone else had noticed Seth's open hostility towards Leo, came to his rescue, "Yeah, we'd like to know some more about Chris's friends."

The two most recent additions to the group glanced around at the others. Realising that they weren't going to let this go, Seth sent a pleading look at Chris. But Chris only shrugged apologetically.

"Ok then," Seth conceded, "My name's Seth, as you know. I'm 26 years old. I'm half-demon, which I only found out when the world started to get fucked up. My father's most likely in the underworld, working for Wyatt. But I was brought up by my mother, who's human. I've got the usual lower level demon powers. You know, fireballs, shimmering and greater strength than mortals. And… that's pretty much it really."

He'd stated this all as a matter of fact, not acting like any of it was a big deal… even the part about his father… and being half-demon. But the Charmed Ones wisely decided to not press any further for more details.

They were about to turn on Nathan and ask him about himself, but Chris spoke first, "No that's not all! In the resistance, Seth's our top strategist, and one of the best fighters we have. You're too modest Seth."

"Maybe," Seth grinned, "I was going to come by my oh-so-brilliant-self to find Chris, but I needed a witch to read the spell to open the portal. And that's where Nathe comes in," he turned to Nathan, who'd clearly been hoping that they'd forget about him and not ask him lots of questions too. But Seth laughed good-naturedly and prompted, "C'mon Nathe. Your turn."

Nathan opened his mouth and began, "Well, I'm 19. I'm a witch, and—"

"You're a witch?" Paige cut in, confused, "But I thought you were a whitelighter?"

Phoebe nodded, "Yeah! Earlier, you orbed!"

Seth saved Nathan from having to answer the questions, "Yeah, that confused the hell out of us when he first came to the resistance. He wouldn't talk to anyone at first, so we didn't even know his name or anything. So we'd see him orb, and think 'Ok, he's a whitelighter'. But then, someone else would see him shimmer, or use a witch power…" Seth shook his head, "We were so confused. We didn't have a fucking clue what he was!" then he turned to Nathan and nudged him, "You explain Nathe."

"My power is imitation," Nathan explained reluctantly, "I can use the powers of anyone who's in the same vicinity as me. But I have to know what their powers are. I can't sense powers."

"Or not yet anyway," Chris chipped in.

Leo was intrigued by this, "That's a very strong power you have. Especially as the more opponents you have, the more powers you have access to. You're a very powerful witch Nathan."

Leo hadn't expected a reply to this, but Nathan said, in a voice barely above a whisper, "Not powerful enough though. Not enough to save them."

This snagged on Phoebe's curiosity, and before she could help herself, she asked, "Save who?" After she asked the question however, she didn't miss the look that Seth gave her. Boy, if looks could kill…

"Demons murdered my family," Nathan explained, staring at the tabletop, "I couldn't save them."

"You're not going to start blaming yourself again are you Nathe?" Seth asked.

"I could've done more," was the only answer Nathan would give.

"That's bullshit, and you know it," Seth said firmly. Apparently this was how Seth solved problems, he cut straight to the chase, and said what he thought. "You were only a fucking kid, and you'd had your fucking throat cut Nathe! I mean, for fuck's sake, what else were you supposed to do?"

Nathan didn't have an answer to this question, and sensing his near desperation, even though none of it showed on his face, Phoebe changed the subject, and felt a wave of relief that wasn't hers wash over her.

"So, Piper. Shouldn't we find somewhere for our guests to sleep?"

"Umm, yeah," Piper agreed, then she looked slightly critically at them, "And we'd better find some clothes for you as well."

Seth immediately began to open his mouth in protest, but Piper cut him off, "No arguments. While you're here, I'm not having you walk around wearing those."

In the end, after much deliberation, and many interruptions from various people, it was decided that; Chris would sleep on the couch (at his insistence), Seth and Nathan could share the guest room and that between Chris and Leo they'd find some clothes for the future people (Nathan being about the same height and build as Chris anyway).

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Several hours later, and Paige had orbed home, and most other people were in bed asleep.

Seth was walking down the hall towards the guest room he and Nathan were sharing, holding the clothes he'd been lent by Leo. It was very kind of him, something that had caught Seth off guard. He'd heard all about Leo from Chris, but none of Leo's actions so far fitted in with the stories. What was going on?

Also, really—plaid shirts? Even with the lack of choice in clothes in the future, he'd never had to wear them…

As the half-demon was walking past Wyatt's nursery, he looked in, and saw Chris standing watching Wyatt.

Coming up behind Chris, Seth glanced at Wyatt, who even though he was asleep, had his blue shield up around him, protecting him. "Hey Chris," he asked, "Why's he doing that?"

Having heard Seth coming, and seen Wyatt's shield go up as his approached, Chris wasn't surprised by his presence. He looked over his shoulder at Seth and said, "Oh, don't worry about that, he did it around me for ages too, until he finally trusted me. It's just because he doesn't know you," then Chris looked back at Wyatt, "And he can probably tell that you don't like him very much."

"What, in his sleep?!" the half-demon asked incredulously.

Chris nodded and looked over his shoulder at Seth, saying in a low voice, "You should know by now. Never underestimate him."

"Right," Seth agreed, still looking at Wyatt, but with slightly wide eyes. Then he looked at Chris, "I'm gonna crash. Night, Chris."

"Night," Chris replied, turning back to his younger big brother. But as Seth left, Chris heard him muttering. It would've been too quiet for most people to hear, but with his acute hearing, Chris heard it, "Christ. No wonder he's ruler of the whole fucking world."

And so, as the rest of the house fell asleep, Chris watched over his brother. However, in the early hours of the morning, he too went to bed and to sleep.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A/N: Finally I've finished this chapter! I'm so sorry for making you all wait so long! And I hope that you all liked it!

A couple of things. I don't know how many bedrooms the manor has, so I was just kinda making it up. Also, Paige lives with Richard at the moment, and although at the beginning of this story I said that Phoebe had moved out, I've changed my mind, and she's back to living at the manor… just assume that she's broken up with Jason or something… sorry about that!

Yeah, I think that was it… so, please review!


	11. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: I don't own Charmed, or any of it's characters

Chapter 11

He'd been searching for what felt like hours. But he wasn't going to give up. He wasn't going back to the base until he found the innocent they'd sensed.

In the resistance, they had a team of witches and psychics who regularly scryed for people in need, people who were still on their side and needed help. Just this morning, someone had popped up their radar out of nowhere, and whoever it was, was in big trouble. Chris had volunteered to go and find them, and while the others were reluctant for him to go alone, eventually it was agreed.

Walking down a narrow alley, Chris stretched out his senses, and felt a glimmer of fear… it wasn't the desperation he'd been expecting after what Judith and the other psychics had told him, but it was the first thing he'd found so he went to check it out.

Entering the building, he made his way up the crumbling stairs and through the door at the top. And what he saw made his stomach sink… he was too late. Lying dead of the floor, with the telltale burns on them, were two men, and a girl who couldn't have been more than 16. Chris frowned and looked at the girl. She had sandy coloured hair and grey eyes that stared accusingly at him as if to say, 'Why didn't you save me?' And she looked vaguely familiar…

Chris stood absolutely still, listening for any sounds. If he was right, and this family was the one he'd met once before all those years ago, then there should be a boy around here somewhere.

Sure enough, when he concentrated, Chris could hear the rhythmic thumping of someone's heart beating, and uneven shaky breathing. And yet, he could only hear the barest whisper of the boy's thoughts, and only feel a glimmer of fear… the boy couls shield himself!

Following the sounds, Chris walked back to the door he'd come through, and closed it. Sitting behind the door was the sandy haired boy, no older than 13 or 14. But the boy didn't look in good shape… he had one hand pressing a wad of material to his throat, but Chris could clearly see the blood slowly oozing between his fingers.

"Hey," Chris said, crouching down beside him. If it was possible, the boy shrank away from him even further, pressing himself as close to the wall as possible. Seeing this, Chris raised his hands and said, "Look, I'm not going to hurt you. I'm here to help, ok? But we've gotta get out of here. We've gotta get you somewhere safe."

He reached towards the boy, intending to give him a hand standing up. But the boy clearly had other ideas… He flinched away from Chris… and Chris flew back several feet and landed on the floor with a crash.

"Oh gimme a break," Chris muttered under his breath, groaning as he sat up again. Then he made his way back over to the boy, more wary this time. "So, telekinetic are you?" he asked casually, aware that he had to get the boy to trust him before he bled to death. "Guess what? So am I," and to demonstrate he made a small piece of wood twirl around in the air before falling back to the floor.

But the boy just stared at him. Chris wasn't sure what to do. The boy was probably going into shock and wasn't even listening to him anymore.

"Listen," Chris insisted, "My name is Chris Halliwell. We've met before, remember? About two years ago I saved you and your family from some demons. That was how I got this," he gestured towards the scar running down his face. "Now would I really have done that if I wanted to hurt you?"

Chris wasn't expecting an answer. He just stood up and held a hand out to the boy. And after staring at the outstretched hand in front of him for a second, the boy took it.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chris woke with a start. It hadn't exactly been a nightmare as such, but it wasn't exactly a nice dream either. It had happened when he was about 17, he'd found the boy, and eventually managed to persuade him to come back to the resistance base with him. The medics had succeeded in patching him up, despite his massive blood loss, and several months later when he started to talk, they learned that his name was Nathan.

Sitting in the silent darkness of the night, Chris knew that Nathan had seen the dream too, and while he was sitting thinking down here, Nathan was doing the same thing upstairs. And for the first time he could remember, Chris cursed his powers.

Nathan was usually very good at controlling his powers. In the past, when he first been learning to control them, he'd be accidentally using other people's powers all the time, with sometimes disastrous results. Though he was almost always in control now, he still sometimes slipped up, especially around people with empathy, telepathy, premonitions and the like, the kind of powers that couldn't really be turned off. That was what had just happened, Chris knew. Nathan had unconsciously used his telepathy and seen the same dream that Chris had had.

So, Chris was cursing his powers. The death of his family wasn't something that Nathan deserved to have to see again, to go through again. Not only did it understandably cause him pain, but it was a source of guilt for both men. Nathan's Father, Uncle and Sister had all died that day. And while Nathan had been too young to help them, and had been injured in trying, Chris had simply got there too late. Nathan still blamed himself, even after all these years, no matter how much everyone tried to persuade him otherwise. And Chris did the same. He was convinced that had he been there a little sooner, Nathan's family might've been saved.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Within the next couple of hours, as the sun was just beginning to rise, all three men from the future were all up and about. Force of habit they supposed. In the future, no one had time enough to be lying in bed all day like everyone here.

So by the time everyone else had got up, and Leo had orbed Phoebe to work before going 'up there', Chris, Seth and Nathan had already vanquished several demons from Chris's 'hit list'.

Now, Chris was checking the book of shadows like he always did, making sure there was no threats in there he could've missed. Seth and Nathan however had been practically glued to the TV and had opted to stay in the living room. It had been so long since they'd had the opportunity to watch TV that Chris hadn't argued. It probably made a nice change for them from the thousands of viewings of the same film back at the base!

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Chris!" Piper called, walking into the attic, and finding her son exactly where she'd thought he'd be—at the Book of Shadows, "Look, I have a really big favour to ask. I know that you're busy and everything, but I really have to go down to the club for a little while and we really need some groceries and things, and everyone else is out. I'll take Wyatt with me, so you don't need to worry about him, but… might you be able to go and pick up groceries for me?"

"Sure thing Mom," Chris mumbled, not really registering what Piper was asking him.

"Thanks so much, I'll leave the list and my credit card in the kitchen," Piper said, happiness swelling inside of her. Chris had called her mom! However unintentional it may have been, it was enough to raise her spirits for the day. "Phoebe's car keys are also in the kitchen, she said you could borrow her car. Bye then Sweetie!" she called to him as she left the attic.

It was only as he heard the car door slam and the engine start up in the drive that Chris realised what he'd just agreed to do.

He ran down the stairs as fast as he possibly could, a barely visible blur, sending a whoosh of displaced air through the house. However, as fast as he was, by the time he reached the driveway, Piper had already driven off.

Every curse under the sun ran through Chris's head, but none of them reached his lips. Instead, he went into the kitchen to look at the list that Piper had left for him. While he was looking through it, he wandered into the living room, where Seth and Nathan were still watching TV.

Seeing the number of items on the list, Chris muttered, "Shit," under his breath.

Hearing this, Nathan and Seth looked up from the screen. "What's up, man?" Seth asked.

"Piper wants me to go grocery shopping for her," Chris ranted, "She's given me a long list, loaned me her credit card and Phoebe's car, and she wants me to drive to the store, and do the shopping!"

Seth and Nathan glanced at each other. "I don't get it," Nathan said, "What's the problem?"

Chris paused for a second, frustrated with himself for not listening to Piper when she was talking to him. After calming down a bit, he answered, "I was 15 when I started living on the streets. I never learnt how to drive! How am I supposed to get to the store!"

"Well don't look at me," Nathan said, "I was even younger than you when… everything happened."

Chris and Nathan both looked at Seth, but he shook his head, "Nah, I can't drive. Me and Ma couldn't afford a car!"

Chris groaned in frustration, "So what am I supposed to do?"

"Orb?" Seth suggested, "I mean, there's no restrictions on that here, are there?"

"Not like there are in the future. But it's way too much of a public place to orb to," Chris sighed.

"In that case, there's only on thing we can do if you want to get those groceries," Nathan said, "We'll have to walk."

"But the store's miles away!" Chris protested.

"C'mon Chris, it could be worse!" Seth said, clapping the witchlight on the back, "We'll go with you, and you can show us what it's like in San Francisco in 2004!"

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A/N: Meh, not happy with this chapter… it didn't pan out how I wanted it to…

And I know there are a lot of problems with it, like Piper would have realised that Chris couldn't drive, but I really wanted this to happen, so I made Piper forgetful! Lol.

Anyway, please review! Next chapter, the unthinkable happens… the boys go shopping! –sounds of jaws hitting the pavements- (and yes that was sarcasm… but I'm going to do the shopping thing anyway… could be fun, and if it isn't, then I won't post it!)

Also, as you may or may not have seen, I've just posted a Chris-centric oneshot. It is sort of a companion (is that the right word???) to this story, it's about when Chris is on the streets and first gets his empathy and telepathy. So I'd really appreciate it if (if you have time) anyone could read and review it! (it also explains what Chris was talking about when he said he'd met Nathan before…)

Until next time then, bye!


	12. Chapter 12

Disclaimer: I don't own Charmed. I do however, own the characters of Seth and Nathan.

Chapter 12

It was a warm and sunny morning in San Francisco that day, and the distance to the store was only about 4-5 miles at Chris's estimate, so he hoped that maybe this could be an uneventful trip.

But what Chris _hadn't_ counted on what Seth and Nathan's undisguised amazement at almost everything they saw. Their wonder was plastered across their faces for all to see as they were so taken aback by there being no demons roaming the streets, no ruined buildings, and no one in any immediate danger from just walking around the city… Everything was safe and peaceful (or as safe and peaceful as a city with the crime rate of San Francisco could be anyway). But possibly what surprised them the most was the way that everyone was just taking it for granted.

Of course, they remembered a time in their pasts when life had been like that, when having a bed to sleep in, knowing where your next meal was coming from and assuming that you would see the next sunrise unscathed _were_ things that moat people still took for granted. But unfortunately, their memories of the war-torn San Francisco, where each and every day was a fight for survival, those memories were stronger.

The distant childhood memories of when the world was safe seemed like a lifetime ago to the people of the future, and everyday they got even further away.

Chris looked around, at the blue cloudless sky, and at all the pedestrians and motorists hurrying around, going about their everyday business. He remembered when he'd first arrived in the past, he'd been just as overwhelmed as Seth and Nathan were now.

His first action had been to orb up to the top of the Golden Gate bridge, which in itself was a novelty – being able to orb without a demon instantly appearing to kill the 'unsuspecting whitelighter'. Once up there he merely sat there for several hours, taking in the noise and bustle of the city that was, to him, so miraculously _alive_ compared to the ghost town he'd become so used to.

The three men didn't really speak much on the way to the store. Seth and Nathan were a bit busy taking in the sights, although after the first mile they were getting a lot better at disguising their shock and unfamiliarity to their surroundings.

By the time they were half way to the store, Seth at least was feeling a bit more used to this time. He couldn't describe his feelings as familiar though. Even when the world hadn't gone to hell, he wouldn't have been exactly familiar with this area of town.

He and his mother had lived in another part of town where everything had _always_ been a little more run down and… economical than around here. Others might say it was the 'dodgy' end, which Seth would have to say was a description he agreed with.

It had just been him and Ma in the house, due to a thankfully absent demon father, and yeah, they'd had some rough patches. Ma had had some problems with alcohol and lack of employment, and while he was younger he had been taken away by social services several times. But they'd managed. And Seth never blamed his mother, it hadn't been easy for her, being knocked up by a demon (though she hadn't known the father's true identity until years later) when she was barely out of high school, and she really had tried to kick the alcohol habit, which she'd eventually succeeded with.

On hearing about his childhood, most people would immediately think that he'd been miserable, and had had a disadvantaged start in life. But _that_, Seth completely disagreed with. His mother had loved him, and on the whole, he'd been happy as a child. Sure, they'd had some issues, and he definitely hadn't been happy while he was away from his mother and in care, but he'd also had a group of very loyal friends.

If anything, it was growing up in such a tough neighbourhood, as well as his somewhat unusual heritage that had helped him to survive later on when everything changed.

At last, the witch, witchlighter and half-demon arrived at the store. Entering through the automatic doors, Chris got out Piper's list from his pocket.

"Right, now lets do this quickly so we can get out of here. We need—" he stopped, realising that Seth and Nathan were no longer behind him.

They were stood just inside the door, staring at the vast amounts of food stacked high on the shelves. It had been a _long_ time since they'd seen so much food.

"Holy shit," Seth whispered under his breath, while beside him, Nathan merely gaped silently.

Chris glanced around, and to his chagrin, noticed that they were beginning to attract some weird looks from the other shoppers.

_Pull it together, guys_, he said telepathically, _we're attracting a lot of attention. Remember, this much food is normal here._

_Yeah, sorry,_ Nathan muttered back, tapping into Chris's telepathy to answer.

Once they'd managed to get used to being around this amount of food again, Chris could tell that Seth and Nathan actually quite _enjoyed_ doing Piper's shopping, and –he would admit to himself— he did a bit too. He supposed it was probably the novelty of doing something so normal for once.

Unfortunately, they didn't quite manage to get everything that was on Piper's list, because she'd wanted them to get some alcohol and none of them had a valid ID for this time. In their own time, both Chris and Seth were old enough to legally buy alcohol, but in this time, Seth was only 5 years old and Chris wasn't even born yet.

But they also got a few things that _weren't_ on the list. They were mostly things that contained chocolate or an insane amount of sugar, because Seth or Nathan (or Chris for that matter!) hadn't had them since they were kids.

Chris was sure that Piper wouldn't mind, she'd always been pretty cool about things like that when he was a kid, and he was positive that she was going to be doing her best to feed the three of them up anyway. Ever since she'd found out he was her youngest son, and ever since she'd laid eyes on his friends, she'd been nagging about how thin they all were. So she'd probably rejoice at them getting more food than she'd asked them to. Although the mom he remembered would have disapproved that most of the extra was junk food.

When they eventually got to the checkout, the girl at the till, who had cropped brown hair, tanned skin and a pretty face, smiled slightly suggestively at them, her eyes twinkling. "So, why would three gorgeous guys such as yourselves be doing the shopping on a day like this?"

Chris didn't respond to her comment, and Nathan merely blushed, but Seth smiled back disarmingly, turning on the charm. Chris had seen him do so many times before and it had always ended with the girl being putty in Seth's hands.

"We're doing the shopping for his ma," he said, gesturing at Chris.

The subsequent conversation as they paid, between the girl, who's name they learnt was Katie, and Seth was very flirtatious and seemed to draw out far too long. In the end, they practically had to drag Seth away from the till, and the three of them hefted their numerous bags towards the exit.

They were only one step away from the automatic doors when the energy ball shot past Chris, missing hitting him by millimetres, but still searing a seriously painful burn across his face. It hit the glass of the doors, shattering them on impact, and sending millions of shards of glass flying everywhere, ripping clothes and cutting flesh.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ok, I'm so so so so so sooooo sorry about how long I've left it since the last chapter! Can you find it in your hearts to forgive me?! Please?...

Anyway, about this chapter, not completely happy with it and I haven't checked it to see if it makes sense… and like most of what I'm posting these days 'twas written in strange places! Also, I've only just noticed a mistake I made in chapter 10, which hopefully by the time you're reading this, I will have corrected! Basically, when I first thought up Seth's character, my idea was that his father brought him up, but I decided I didn't like that idea (for many reasons). But in chapter 10, somehow I'd gone with my original idea and completely contradicted other comments in ch 11 and ch 12… anyway, changed now!

Also, about my ignorance… I know nothing about America or San Francisco, and I was also guessing about the legal drinking age – here it's 18, but I had a feeling that in America it was 21… sorry if I'm wrong!

So, please review!


	13. Chapter 13

Disclaimer: I don't own Charmed

_Previously…_

_They were only one step away from the automatic doors when the energy ball shot past Chris, missing hitting him by millimetres, but still searing a seriously painful burn across his face. It hit the glass of the doors, shattering them on impact, and sending millions of shards of glass flying everywhere, ripping clothes and cutting flesh…_

Chapter 13

With the kind of reflexes you could only get from living in war zone, Chris, Seth and Nathan all dropped the bags they were carrying and took cover. Unfortunately, this action also split them up, with Chris and Seth ending up behind a cashier desk (where Katie was also hiding), and Nathan behind one of the displays.

Chris cursed to himself. He'd let his guard down, believed that maybe there was no danger. After all, what kind of demon attacked in the middle of such a public place? A really stupid one. Even if _they_ didn't kill this demon, his own kind would, for exposing them.

"What the _hell_ are they playing at?" Seth spat, "the source is gonna fry their asses for this! Why are they even bothering?"

Chris didn't get a chance to answer, because at that moment another energy ball sailed over their heads, destroying the CCTV camera on the ceiling. He glanced at Seth, ok, maybe this demon wasn't quite as stupid as they thought.

By this time, most of the other customers had long since fled the store. But a quiet weeping remained, letting them know that, aside from themselves and Katie, there was at least one person left in the store.

"We have to do something," Seth whispered over the sounds of energy balls exploding against things, "the cops'll be here soon."

"_There are at least three of them,_" Nathan broke in telepathically, "_And they already took out all the cameras._"

"Good. That means they've done some of the work for us," Seth said in a low voice.

He and Chris peered over the top of the counter to see what was going on. They saw that there was a sobbing woman who only seemed to have minor injuries cowering by one of the aisles. They crouched back down again and glanced at each other.

"We need to that woman and Katie out of here and vanquish those guys, man. And fast," Seth said.

Chris nodded, "Ok. Me and Nathan will distract them while you get those two out of here."

Seth and Nathan both nodded in agreement, the latter having heard the conversation through Chris's acute hearing. And it would've been a relatively simple plan too, were it not for the demon that shimmered in front of them only a second later.

Fortunately, no one was hurt, as Seth instantly threw an energy ball at the demon, vanquishing him, and Chris had put his green shield around them and Katie, protecting them. But it just made Seth's part of the plan a bit more difficult… he just didn't know it yet.

Chris and Nathan both turned invisible and sneaked out from behind cover. There were four demons now. Three of them were just destroying random bits of the store, enjoying the chaos. But one of them was systematically blowing holes in each of the cashier desks… _he_ was the main problem. All the demons were apparently ignoring the woman crying in the corner.

"_Try drawing that one down one of the aisles,_" Chris said.

Nathan grinned to himself, he knew exactly what to do, and in his opinion, it was one of the best things about invisibility. He ran halfway down the aisle, and took a can from a shelf. Then he took aim and threw it at the demon, who was just about to blow a hole in the counter behind which Seth and Katie were still hiding.

Sure enough, it whacked him right in the head, making him stumble. The demon picked up the can, and glared down the apparently empty aisle. He went to investigate anyway, unknowingly walking closer and closer to Nathan. Chris followed him.

"_We have to do this quietly_," Chris said, knowing what he had to do, but hating it all the same. Coming up behind the demon, he clenched him hand into a fist, and the demon choked, clutching his chest. A second later, he burst into flames.

Chris looked at the scorch mark on the floor. It wasn't that he felt any particular sympathy for the demon, it was just that he hated using his telekinesis that way. It made him feel no better than Wyatt doing what he liked best, choking the life out of people without even getting his hand dirty.

"_Chris!_" Nathan broke the witchlighter from his thoughts, "_the rest of them are all in the next aisle._"

Chris shot a look at Nathan, who he alone could still see. It seemed that when he and Nathan were both using invisibility, they could still see each other. He supposed it was something to do with the fact that they were both using the same set of powers.

"_You sure?_" he asked, "_All of them?_"

"_Yeah, what's the plan?_" Nathan asked, brushing his hair out of his eyes.

Chris looked at the rows of shelves that separated the aisles, and an idea hit him. He relayed the plan to Nathan, who grinned. The two men moved back from the stacked shelves that separated them from the demons, and stood facing them.

"_Ready?_" Chris asked.

"_When you are,_" Nathan countered as he always did.

They acted simultaneously. Chris shot a huge torrent of fire at the whole row, igniting the lot, while Nathan pushed the burning mass over, using the full force of Chris's telekinesis.

The shelves crashed over, vanquishing the demons, and spreading the fire to the next aisle.

Chris looked at the flames licking the next set of shelves. He could put them out if he wanted to, but now that he thought about it, a fire would be the perfect cover up, and would definitely help in preventing exposure. All they had to do was make sure that there was no one in the store, and get out of there before the flames reached the aisle with the spirits and the whole place was blown to kingdom come.

"C'mon," Chris muttered, as he and Nathan, who were now both visible again, ran to get Seth.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Meanwhile, Seth had been having issues of his own.

Once Chris and Nathan had taken out the demon who had been merely seconds away from blowing a hole in the counter, and consequentially – _him_, he cautiously got up, checking for any more marauding demons.

"Ok, coast is clear," he said, reaching a hand down to Katie to help her up, "Let's get you out of here."

But Katie didn't move. She merely stared at his outstretched hand like it was a poisonous snake. "What _are_ you?" she asked shakily, "How did you _do_ that?"

Oh _shit_, Seth thought, for once not expressing the profanity aloud. She'd seen him vanquish a demon, and she'd seen Chris use a power too. What the hell were they going to do?

"Look," he said, slightly desperately, all too aware that there were still demons around, "I _really_ don't have time for this now. I'll explain everything when we get out of here, but we have to leave now or—"

"Or what?" Katie asked defiantly, although she was clearly still afraid, "You'll do to me what you did to that man?"

Great. So she thought he was a murderer too! Seth's patience was really starting to wear thin. But he had to give the girl some credit, she had guts. Especially as she thought he'd just murdered someone in cold blood… or did that make her stupid? But she was _really_ starting to piss him off.

His clear blue eyes flashed in annoyance as he answered, "For the record, that wasn't a man, it was a _demon_. But no, I won't do that to you… they might though," he jerked his towards the aisle where the demons seemed to have congregated.

Katie glanced apprehensively over the counter, and although she couldn't see the demons, she could hear the crashing noises of destruction that they were making. But she _still_ couldn't go with him.

Seth was about ready to start tearing his hair out by this point. He looked at the aisle where he knew the demons were, and back at Katie, who was still hidden behind the counter. She'd be safe enough there for a few minutes while he got the other woman out.

"Stay there and keep quiet then," he said to her, and walked off, not waiting to see if she obeyed or not.

Reaching the woman's side, Seth laid a gentle hand on her shoulder and said, "I'm getting you out of here, ok?"

But the woman didn't answer, didn't even acknowledge he was there. She just carried on crying and cradled her other arm even closer to her. She was shaking.

Seth looked at her arm, and saw that it was burned, probably a graze from an energy ball. It wasn't a terribly serious injury, at least not by Seth's standard's anyway. But he could tell that she was going into shock.

Not willing to wait around any longer, Seth picked up the woman, thinking a little sadly that she was just the sort of person who wouldn't survive when the change came, and carried her outside where a crowd had inevitably gathered. No sirens yet, but it was only a matter of time.

"Stay with her," Seth said to one of the crowd, before setting the woman gently down on the pavement and hurrying back to the store. One down…

Katie was right where he'd left her, and unharmed, thank the lord for small favours. But he opened his mouth to tell her enough, she could either walk out, or he'd carry her out, when there was a thunderous crash, and Chris and Nathan came running towards him, fire now flickering in the background.

"We have to get out of here before the place explodes," Chris said, on reaching Seth, and then when he saw Katie, he asked, "What's she still doing here?" But as Seth opened his mouth to explain, he held up a hand, "Never mind, we don't have time for it, just get her out of here."

"What d'you think I've been trying to do," Seth muttered under his breath, knowing full well that Chris would hear. He'd officially lost all patience with Katie by now, she was a sweet girl and she had guts, not to mention she was hot, but she was just so uncooperative it was driving him crazy. "Look Katie," he said to her, "The danger's gone now, it's safe to leave the fucking store. In fact unless you want to get burnt to a fucking crisp, you really might want to get out of here, ok?"

Evidently seeing the anger in Seth's eyes and deciding that she'd take her chances leaving, Katie ran for it, not looking back at the three cute guys who'd come into her life and completely destroyed the way she saw the world. She now knew that there was more to life than you saw.

"Finally!" Seth said, breathing a sigh of relief, "C'mon, lets get out of here. I'm telling you, man, this is the last time I ever go shopping!"

So, the three of them managed to quickly retrieve their shopping bags, which were mostly undamaged. Then they orbed (or shimmered respectively) back to the manor. There, Nathan and Seth went into the kitchen to put the stuff down.

As Chris went to follow, feeling that it had been a very, very long day, a cold voice whispered in his ear "They'll all leave you in the end… you'll lose them all…so sad… so very, very sad…"

But all Chris registered was a cold feeling in his stomach that he would always be alone.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Whew! I got it done in time! I'm going out babysitting in about 5 minutes, and I just really wanted to get this finished first, so there's me frantically typing away, and … not checking it through, so sorry about any mistakes!

And yes, another cliffie… it's not my fault I love them so much! Lol! I'm evil!

Anyways, yes I'm also hyper!

Please review!


	14. Chapter 14

Disclaimer: I don't own Charmed

_Previously…_

_As Chris went to follow, feeling that it had been a very, very long day, __a cold voice whispered in his ear "They'll all leave you in the end… you'll lose them all…so sad… so very, very sad…"_

_But all Chris registered was a cold feeling in his stomach that he would always be alone…_

Chapter 14

That day, for some reason unknown to them, none of the Halliwell's felt quite right. Wherever they were; Phoebe at work, Piper at the club, Paige at her temp job, even Chris, Seth and Nathan back at the Manor were feeling it, they just felt wrong.

Phoebe had been in a good mood that morning when she got to work. After all, it was a beautiful sunny day, she loved her job and things were going her way for once. She'd said a cheery hello to Elise on her way in, made herself a cup of coffee, and she'd even smiled at the mail guy. But then, sometime between arriving and lunch, everything changed for the worse.

She _had_ been completely on target for her deadline, with all of her column written up, and all the other unanswered letters filed carefully. But as she was reading her final copy through, she felt a chill go through her, and she just knew that everything she'd written was wrong.

Phoebe had felt a wave of desperation and insecurity. Was she good enough to be a column writer? After all, who was _she_ to give advice on other people's love life looking back at her own track record! She'd got married to a man who became the Source of all Evil for heaven's sake! She'd nearly given birth to his demon spawn!... eew… And Cole wasn't her only mistake either. So who was she to judge other people's lives?

The rest of the day passed much the same for Phoebe, her heart growing heavier and heavier as she realised she was destined to die alone. At the end of the day, she passed her column to Elise, knowing that once she read it she was most likely to lose her job, and left for home.

But of course that wasn't all that could go wrong, was it? No! She'd had Leo orb her to work this morning because of how late she'd been, so know she'd have to get someone to come and get her! Typical…

------------------------------------------------

Paige's day had been much the same. It'd started out well. She'd gone to the temp agency, and she'd been assigned as a secretary for one of the cutest guys she seen for a while. But that wasn't all, his name was Jude and not only was he _hot_, but he was sweet, funny, rich and charming, and better still, he was showing every indication that he liked her!

But Paige should've known that it couldn't last. After all, nothing ever did.

She saw Jude talking to one of the other secretaries who worked at his firm (or rather, his father's firm), and she realised that there was no way he could ever be interested in _her_. After all, she was just temping there, whereas he was practically in charge. Also, she knew she should have spent more time this morning putting on her makeup, usually she was so careful with her appearance.

However, she knew that she would always be second best to someone, wherever she went. It was the same with her sisters. She had thought that she was over it, but she wasn't, it still felt like she was living in Prue's shadow. No matter what she did, no matter how much she tried to be good at her job and a good witch, there was no way she'd ever be able to live up to Prue's standard. At least, not in her sister's eyes.

Piper and Phoebe would never truly see her for who she was, she felt that she would somehow always be a replacement for Prue. And she would therefore always be second best.

When she heard Phoebe calling her, the end of the day couldn't come quick enough. Paige checked for mortals and then orbed to her sister, she probably only wanted a lift home anyway, her orbing seemed to be all she was ever needed for these days…

-------------------------------------------------

Piper felt like a terrible mother.

Life had seemed so good this morning, but as always when everything was going well, Piper had known that before long something would come along and jinx it.

The morning had all gone okay. Chris had said he would get the groceries, and she'd taken Wyatt with her to the club.

But then sometime around lunchtime, Wyatt had just started crying and wouldn't stop. She'd tried everything to calm him down, but everything that she usually did when he was like this, wouldn't work.

She couldn't understand it, what was wrong?

Looking at her crying son, Piper suddenly felt like a terrible mother She had to be, what other explanation was there? And it wasn't just about Wyatt crying either. After all, if she couldn't handle this, then she was useless. In fact, she was so terrible that her precious baby boy was going to grow up to be evil. He was going to kill and do all the terrible things that she knew she would've taught him were wrong. And because she was such a failure, her youngest son, Chris, Wyatt's baby brother who hadn't even been born yet, he had to come to the past to fix her mess.

Piper put a hand to her abdomen that was just beginning to noticeably show that she was pregnant, and almost cried. How could she have failed her children like this?

-------------------------------------------------

Leo was stood on the top of the Golden Gate bridge, just as he always did whenever he needed to think. He just had one of the most boring and pointless discussions with his fellow elders that they'd had for quite a while.

After they'd all finished talking, Leo had needed to clear his head. He was just so damn _frustrated_ with them sometimes. He knew they meant well, and that he was one of them now… but most of the time it still didn't quite feel that way. He still somehow felt like the whitelighter, the novice, on the outside looking in. But to him, that didn't really matter. If that's what it took so he could be with his family most of the time, then so be it.

He stood in the sunlight and appreciated the cool breeze, but his tranquillity was disturbed when all of a sudden his head was wracked with screams.

Every single one of his charges was screaming in pain, pleading for help. Leo fell to his knees, overwhelmed by the noise. Who should he go to first? He could hear all of them, including Piper and her sisters, and Wyatt's crying, Chris was even yelling too.

But then, as suddenly as it had started, it all stopped, and his head was silent. He couldn't feel any of them, and as an experienced whitelighter, he knew what that meant.

"They're all dead," he choked out, barely able to believe it. How could this have happened? How could _all_ of his charges, his family even, have been wiped out in the space of a few seconds?

"Oh God," he whispered, the tears beginning to fall. Piper was dead, her sisters were dead, and Wyatt… and Chris…

However, then he felt something. Something he hadn't noticed through his tears. He reached out with his senses, and found that he could suddenly feel them all again. He sat in a disbelieving relief; they were all alive! So what was going on? How can they all have been dead one minute and back alive a minute later? It made no sense at all.

Was he going crazy?

"It's what _will_ happen," a cold voice said, "You will fail them all. You're as much a failure as an elder as you are a terrible father…"

When Wyatt had been born, Leo had been delighted. He'd wanted children, he'd hoped he'd be a good father. But as it turned out, he'd failed his sons. He was never there for them, Wyatt turned evil, and apparently he _abused_ Chris.

"I would never do something like that," he murmured to himself, determined to changed what had happened to his youngest,

"But you did," another cold voice came from in front of him.

Leo looked up to see Chris standing there, glaring down at him, "You hated me my whole life. But I've stopped caring now anyway, I had Mom until you failed her too… I don't need a father."

"No Chris, don't say that," Leo begged.

"Why not?" Chris shrugged, "It's true. I stopped needing you years ago, and I'm not about to start up again now. You were never there, and I hated you for it. You're too late now, you can never make up for what you've done."

"No," Leo begged, looking down at the floor, not noticing that the image of Chris had now faded away.

"Very sad," a voice whispered into his ear, "Very, very sad…"

--------------------------------------------------

Seth was agitated. He knew what he and Nathan had come here to do.

Yes they'd been looking for Chris. But they'd been looking for him for a reason, and they'd been willing to travel in _time_ to find him for a reason. However, neither of them quite knew how to break the news to Chris yet. They'd seen him here in the past, and while he was still as sarcastic, neurotic and obsessive as the Chris they knew, there was something different about him here. A certain amount of the weight he usually carried in the future was gone here, carried by the rest of his family instead.

Here, it was the Charmed Ones duty to protect the innocent from demons, not Chris's, whereas in the future, that duty fell solely onto his shoulders. Next to Wyatt, he was the most powerful witch in the world, and with his mother, aunts and cousins all gone, the legacy of the Halliwells, to protect innocents, fell to him.

But what they needed Chris to do would give him back that burden. They needed him to come back to the future with them.

In the future, the resistance was in a shambles, a hair's breadth away from collapsing entirely. They needed Chris.

But how could Seth and Nathan take him away from his family again? Would he even want to come?

Seth could almost see in his mind's eye, the resistance base, overrun with demons, everyone dead. That was what the future would be if they didn't do something…

_They_ do something. It was ironic, but without Chris, there wasn't anything that they _could_ do. If the barriers that he'd put there fell… it would all be over… and that was what Seth feared…

-------------------------------------------------

Chris was getting too attached.

He'd noticed it more and more the longer he was here, especially now that his family knew who he was.

It was something he'd tried desperately to not let happen when he'd first arrived. He knew that when he'd finished what he came here to do, that he was going to have to leave again, and go back to a future where they may or may not even still be alive. So he'd done his best not to get too attached, and he'd failed.

He was hopelessly attached to all of them, even Leo to some degree. His father was different here in the past, and Chris couldn't imagine him being the abusive type, and this just confirmed what he'd thought all along, his father had never truly hated him, it'd all been a spell.

But while this brought relief, it also brought fear. It meant that he'd grown attached to Leo too, however much he tried to deny it. And he was going to have to lose them all one day, and he didn't want to do it again.

Chris had hoped that if he succeeded in saving Wyatt, then the future was be wonderful, a utopia almost, and everyone would be alive. But he'd come to accept that this was only a dream. He wasn't even completely convinced that saving Wyatt was possible, he was bound to fail. But that was strange since up to this morning he'd been determined that he _would_ do it, for the sake of Bianca and the twins, the pain of losing whom had almost been too much for him, even though he was used to losing people.

But that was this morning… by now he'd realised it was futile. People always left him, that was what they did. He would always be alone, and nothing could stop that. Chris looked at the knife in his hand, and thought that he may as well give up now…

-------------------------------------------------

Nathan was sitting in the living room of the Charmed Ones. To him, that in itself should be somewhat a novelty. And yet… it wasn't. He found that all he could think about was the death of his family, his failures to save them and so many others.

This was rather strange. Not because he never thought about that sort of thing, because he did. But there was something… different about what he was feeling to what it was usually. He could feel the fears of him being a failure, useless and weak washing over him… But through Chris's power of empathy, he could feel similar despair coming from everyone else in the house.

That wouldn't have been odd if it was just him and Chris. It was common knowledge that Chris blamed himself for _everything_. But Seth too? Now _that_ was weird. Seth tried not to dwell on things too much, it was just the way he was. He got over things and moved on. So if he was wallowing too… then something had to be going on…

Or was this only him, trying to make some use of himself?

That horrible thought made it's way into his head involuntarily.

Also, would anyone even believe him?

Nathan fought the urge to slap himself in the head. _Stop it!_ he told himself, _they listen to you. Why are you even doubting them?_

"What reason have they given you _not_ to doubt them?" his mind seemed to answer back, or perhaps it was a voice in his head? "They only want you for your power."

Now Nathan _did_ slap himself around the head, "Stop it," he said to himself firmly. He had to find Chris. If someone would know what was going on, it would be him.

-------------------------------------------------

And as he watched the disheartened, doubting, and best of all, fearful Charmed Ones returned to their home, Barbas smiled.

He had made mistakes in the past, there was no doubt about that. But he wasn't like other demons. He _learned_ from his mistakes, and it would seem that for the time being, everything was going his way for once. Only that witch was causing a problem to him, and he was a nobody, someone who the Charmed Ones would dismiss out of hand.

Soon enough, the Charmed Ones, the Elder and their progeny would be too wrapped up in their fears to do anything, and in time, given enough power, their fears would become reality. Their fears would literally be the death of them…

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A/N: Hope you liked that! (it hasn't been edited at all, so I hope there're no typos/ bits that make no sense). I am so so so so _unbelievably_ sorry about how long I've left it… I mean it's been over 3 months since I last updated! But you'll be glad to know that I've finished school, and my exams (FREEDOM!!!), and I've hit a writer's block with my other story, and slightly unstuck one with this so… yeah. Not sure if I'll have time to update again before I go on holiday, but I'll do my best!

So, please review and tell me what you thought… or just review and yell at me for taking so long… edges away from angry readers


End file.
